Tag Archives: The Wild

Roanoke Wine Shop: Four for Four

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

October 13, 2022

The entrance to the patio from the parking lot is well-shaded.

The sky was threatening rain, so I was glad I was able to park just steps from the back door of Roanoke’s Love Lane wine shop in the roomy parking lot off Pike Street.  Roanoke has two tasting rooms, but the one at the vineyard is for members only.  However, all are welcome to their Love Lane venue, a small but pleasant store front in the midst of Love Lane’s shops.  Love Lane, by the way, is a great destination for foodies, since in one small block you have the terrific Village Cheese Shop, the Sweet Shoppe and its gourmet chocolates, Ammirati’s sandwich restaurant with its many choices, Lombardi’s Italian market, North Fork Donut Company, and Love Lane Kitchen, where the lines outside prove its popularity.  Not to mention, just around the corner, Agora, a Greek market, and Good Food, where I get empanadas.

The view out the front window, where you can see Lombardi’s market, which has all sorts of prepared foods and pizza, as well as meats, etc.

Despite all these offerings on Love Lane, we and our guests had just had lunch at CJ’s Grill, in the Mattituck Marketplace, where the service was a bit slow, but the food was delicious and the servings were generous.  This was fortunate, since the pour at Roanoke is also generous, and it was good to have a well-lined stomach.  The tasting menu just has one flight listed for non-club members, of four wines for $16.  We liked them all so much, and the price was so reasonable, that I bought one each of all four wines, something I have never done before.

Roanoke does have a well-shaded patio in back, where we would have sat if the weather had cooperated.  However, it had turned chilly, so our party of five voted to sit inside.  We had the room to ourselves, which was nice, and our server and a friend of his who was hanging out at the bar helped us push two small tables together and rearrange the chairs so we were quite comfortable.  Each couple shared a tasting, with the designated driver supplied with a glass of water (which we all also got). 

Though we didn’t need any snacks, one of our guests asked for a cracker or two, and got a nice little basket of crackers.

As I was paying for our tastings and bottles, I noticed a small list of cheeses and snacks, but I forgot to ask about their policy for bringing in food.  I’ll assume dogs are probably allowed on the outside patio, but I would call and ask before coming.  By the way, Roanoke also carries Wölffer Estate wines, including their very popular rosé, Summer in a Bottle. 

As we sipped, one of our guests asked how this year had been, and our server told us that it looked likely to be a very good year for the harvest, as grapes enjoy the hot dry weather we had for most of the summer.  Something to look forward to!

The labels are quite attractive.
  •  2021 Sauvignon Blanc   $26

This is a steel fermented wine, with a bit of that mineral aroma steel-fermented wines get, plus a lovely floral scent.  We all like the crisp, lemon-lime taste, with more depth than many sauvignon blancs.  This is a very drinkable wine, and would be good with food, like a lobster roll.

  • 2021 The Wild                   $23

What’s so wild about this?  It uses wild yeast, which cedes some control over the result to nature, rather than using commercial yeasts.  Channing Daughters also uses wild yeasts—those occurring naturally in the air and soil—for their L’Enfant Sauvage.  As a result, the taste of the wine can vary from year to year.  This one worked out well.  A clone of chardonnay, with some muscat, it is steel-fermented, but is softer than some steel chards.  Instead of citrus, it has a toasted nut flavor and a long finish. Our guests buy two bottles.

  • 2020 > (Greater Than)                   $25

Why is the name of this Bordeaux-style blend the mathematical symbol for greater than?  There’s a story behind it.  Originally, this was called Bond, but it turned out a California winery also had a wine called Bond—a very high-end wine—and they had copyrighted the name.  Uh-oh.  So Roanoke asked its wine club members for alternative names, and someone came up with the idea of greater than, as in greater than the sum of its parts.  And indeed it is.  This is a blend of 67% cabernet franc, 19% merlot, and 14% cabernet sauvignon.  The aroma includes cherries (likely from the merlot) and spice.  I say nutmeg.  The tasting menu compares it to a Briermere cherry tart.  It’s not sweet, but it is soft, with no tannins, so it’s surely a drink-now wine.  I’d have it with mac and cheese—maybe the mac and cheese from Meats Meat, also in Mattituck, just around the corner on Main Road.

  • 2020 Marco Tulio             $28

There’s a story behind the name of this Bordeaux blend as well.  It is named for the father of one of the founders, who lived to be 99 years old, and died just short of his 100th birthday.  His photo adorns the bottle.  This one has much more of the cherry aroma and flavor, not surprising, given that this blend is 66% merlot, 21% cabernet franc, and 13% cabernet sauvignon.  This is drier than >, with some slight tannins.  I taste tart plums and a little spice.  I think I’d pair it with spaghetti carbonara.

Reasons to visit:  cozy tasting room conveniently located in the midst of Love Lane’s food mecca; all four of the tasting menu wines; a place to buy Wölffer Estate wines.

Roanoke Vineyards: Sipping and Shopping           August 20, 2017

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

https://www.roanokevineyards.net/

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The view out the door to lovely Love Lane.

Roanoke Vineyards has a tasting room conveniently located on Love Lane in Mattituck, so you can browse the shops before or after your tasting.  The shops include the excellent Love Lane Cheese Shop, the Sweet Shop, a toy store, a yarn store, an art gallery/framing store, a pet accessory store, a dress shop, Orlovsky’s Hardware store, Lombardi’s Market, and several restaurants.  We decided to celebrate having seen a 70% solar eclipse with a wine tasting, while several members of our party (two of whom were too young to drink) cruised the shops.  By the way, although there is parking on Love Lane, there is also ample free parking in the town lot to the west of the street.

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One view of the tasting room.

The tasting room is small but attractive, and is augmented in warm weather by an enclosed patio in the back.  We stood at the bar, which allowed us to chat with the very personable server.  The menu offered two main options:  The Summer Flight, of four wines for $14, or the Special Flight, of three wines for $12.  The three of us decided to share one of each.  The wines from the Special Flight are marked with an *. We also noted that the tasting room sells bottles of wine from two South Fork wineries—Channing Daughters and Wölffer Estates—and Red Hook.  Good to know, since it is sometimes hard to find their wines in stores.

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The back yard patio.

  1. 2016 Roanoke Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc           $26

We started out with this steel fermented white, tart and spicy with some creaminess.  We had an amusing discussion with the server over the aroma of cat pee, which I would also describe as the smell you sometimes get when you have kept flowers in water for too long.  Fortunately, the wine does not taste like the smell.

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  1. *2016 R.V. The Wild     $22

Wild refers to the use of “wild,” or indigenous yeast, or in other words the yeast that just occurs naturally, rather than a purchased yeast.  I would imagine that it takes some courage to do this, since you risk that the wine might not come out well.  Happily, this chardonnay did, with an aroma of gooseberry and a rather nutty taste—as in it tastes like nuts.  We all like it, and our son-in-law buys a bottle to take home.

a r wild

  1. 2016 Infinite Possibility $22

This one is also delicious, a blend of 66% chardonnay, 25% sauvignon blanc, 5% viognier and 5% albariño.  We taste pineapple and honeydew in this steel fermented white.  Our relative notes that this is the type of wine, “I could drink all day.”  Perfect summer white.

a r white bottle

  1. *2014 Single Acre Merlot $45

All the grapes for this merlot come from one particular acre, so it has a limited production, and all the pruning, etc., is done by hand.  It has the typical merlot cherry aroma and flavor.  Nice, but not worth a fuss.

a r merlot

  1. Colorfield   $26

Extra!  Noting my note-taking, and our engagement with the wines, the server says we need to try this one, a blend of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot blanc that is not on the menu.  It is light and dry, and, we agree, another wine one could sip “all day.”

  1. 2015 R.V. ARC $34

Arc?  Why?  The server is not sure why this blend of 72% estate cabernet franc and 28% merlot has this name, but by the next wine, we have a theory.  In any event, this is a dry, pleasant red that would go well with burgers.  It has just a touch of cherry taste, plus blackberry and blueberry.

a r bottles

  1. *2014 Prime Number   $59

Okay, there is a definite theme of mathematic-inspired names.  The server notes that a retired teacher works for the winery, writing copy for the menu and helping come up with names.  We theorize that the teacher must have been a math teacher, and our son-in-law buys a bottle for his father, who is both a retired math teacher and an oenophile.  Perfect!  We decide that he should cellar this wine, which has the types of tannins that make us think it would age well, though now it is “too tight” and “closed.”  A blend of 82% cabernet sauvignon and 18% merlot, it had some interesting layers of flavor.  I’d like to taste it in a few years (hint!).

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  1. 2014 R.V. Cabernet Sauvignon   $45

And here’s another wine that we decide would benefit from some aging—and we buy a bottle to store in our cellar.  The aroma is slightly earthy, but mainly plummy, as is the taste.  We tell our companion about how early on so many of the wines out here tasted earthy or barnyard-y, a trait the winemakers seem to have succeeded in ameliorating.

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As you can see from this list, you can buy wines from a number of different wineries at Roanoke’s Love Lane tasting room.

Reasons to visit:  you want to do some shopping on Love Lane and need a respite; The Wild, Infinite Possibility, Prime Number, Cabernet Sauvignon; the ability to buy wines from Channing Daughters, Wölffer Estates, and Red Hook; a pleasantly intimate tasting room.

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a r menu

Waters Crest: A Learning Experience October 18, 2015

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

http://www.waterscrestwinery.com/

One view of the cozy tasting room

One view of the cozy tasting room

“This was a great year for whites, but probably not for reds,” opined our enthusiastic and knowledgeable server, Adam, at Waters Crest winery, one of the semi-hidden gems of the North Fork.  I love to listen to people talk about something they are passionate about, and Adam certainly fit that description.  Though he is working for Waters Crest at the moment, he hopes someday to have his own winery, and meanwhile the good part about working for a small place like this is “you get to do everything.” The good part for those of us who are curious about various aspects of wine making is that the servers here have always been able to do a great job of answering our questions.

Though you can see the wine-making facility through a window in the tasting room, you may wonder where the vines are.  Jim Waters buys his grapes from local North Fork vineyards, then makes the wines himself.  When we first arrived we had the room to ourselves, but then a couple of small groups came in, all clearly regular customers who knew exactly what they wanted, including which cheese from the small refrigerator to get and which pizza they wanted heated up.

The tasting room is hidden in a strip of stores off Sound Avenue, with the entrance on Cox Lane, just to make finding it even harder, but they hope to soon have a spot on the Main Road, which will be great.  We have been a fan of this tiny place ever since our first visit, as the wines tend to be both tasty and interesting.  The room is small, but newly furnished with comfortable leather stools and chairs.  The tasting menu offers all seven of their wines for $15, and so we opted to share a tasting.

  1. 2014 Sauvignon Blanc $25.99

“We treat this more like a Sancerre,” noted Adam, using cold fermentation and no oak.  The aroma is quite floral, with notes of pineapple and lemon, which also describes the taste.  As is often the case with this grape, it would be perfect with local oysters.

Two of the whites

Two of the whites

  1. 2013 Pinot Blanc $24.99

What is “indigenous yeast” and how does it work?  If you want to know, ask Adam! Most winemakers will treat their grapes with SO2 when they come in from the field in order to kill off the naturally occurring yeasts so that they can then introduce the yeasts they have bought, thus controlling the effect of the yeast.  With this pinot blanc (and also, as we discussed, Channing Daughters’ L’Enfant Sauvage and Roanoke’s The Wild!) the natural yeasts were allowed to stay on, which also meant that fermentation took longer.  The wine was fermented mostly in steel, with just a touch of oak.  The result?  Lovely.  Aromas of green apple and minerals, with a touch of funkiness preceded a taste of tart green apple and pear salad, with some nice minerality.

  1. 2013 Dry Riesling $24.99

Dry?  Bone dry!  This wine is made with grapes from upstate, from Gold Seal Vineyards, but it is not at all sweet.  .025 residual sugar, says Adam.  Interesting flavor, with notes of citrus and stone and a touch of funkiness.  Unlike most rieslings, which I would choose to have with spicy food, this would go better with duck, sausage, or, suggests Adam, knockwurst.  Good call.

  1. 2013 Reserve Chardonnay $23.99

After a time of steel fermentation, this gets six months in new French oak, so it is not too buttery.  You do get some typical butterscotch flavors, along with lemon and other citrus.  Good, a not untypical chard.

  1. 2012 Red Blend $19.99

The mixture of 50% merlot and 50% cabernet franc is blended in the bottle after being independently fermented.  This has my favorite label, inspired by the famous painting by Charles Demuth which was inspired by his friend William Carlos Williams’s poem “The great number 5.”  The aroma is typically cherry, like a merlot, and so is the taste.  It is fairly dry, and the tasting notes suggest some rhubarb in the flavor.  In any event, it is a good barbeque wine, and would be great with burgers.

The lineup so far, with the Charles Demuth-inspired label on the far right.

The lineup so far, with the Charles Demuth-inspired label on the far right.

  1. 2008 Cabernet Franc $39.99

“Now you can see how our wines age,” notes Adam.  “The tannins have fallen off.”  This has a very distinct taste, combining black pepper, tobacco, and smoke with the fruit flavors, and is balanced and mellow.  I start to say roast chicken, and then we agree it would be great with lamb.  The 08 is almost all gone, as they found a few cases forgotten in the warehouse!

  1. 2010 Merlot Grand Vin $59.99

After three days on the skins (which is fairly long) the wine spends two years in new French oak.  It was worth waiting for!  2010 was a great year for reds on the North Fork, and this one, which garnered 90 points in Wine Spectator, is excellent, with lots of tannins, black cherry , and a delicious aroma.  It could stand up to a good steak.

Nice color

Nice color

  1. 2010 and 2007 Campania Rosso $56 for the ‘07

If you’re counting, you know we should be done, but as a reward for our intense interest in the wines, Adam gives us small tastes of two Bordeaux blends from two different years just to show what else they can do.  These are Right Bank blends of mostly merlot, plus cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and petit verdot.  Though the only difference in the wines is how long they have aged and the year of harvest, they are quite different.  The 2010 is dark red, while the ’07 is more of a garnet color.  The ’10 is really good, with tannins which finally make sense to me of the term “chewy tannins” and lots of layers of flavors.  The ’07 is almost over the hill, with asparagus in the aroma and a lack of depth.   Though it is not bad, I would definitely choose the ’10, and drink it soon!

Our bonus tastes. It pays to be serious about your tasting!

Our bonus tastes. It pays to be serious about your tasting!

Reasons to visit:  a chance to talk to knowledgeable servers (one time it was Jim Waters himself) and learn all about the wines; the Pinot Blanc, the Red Blend, the Cabernet Franc, the Merlot Grand Vin, the 2010 Campania Rosso; no crowds on a busy weekend (though this may change once they move to a more public spot).

wa outside

Roanoke Vineyards: Satellite Spot July 26, 2015

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

http://www.roanokevineyards.net/

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Roanoke’s main tasting room and vineyard are located on the western edge of the North Fork, but their satellite spot, which they call their “wine bar,” is in the heart of wine country, on Love Lane in Mattituck.  As I found out, their main room will close this winter to all except wine club members, so you might as well plan to go to their Love Lane place—especially since Love Lane itself is worth a visit for the Village Cheese Shop, Lombardi’s Italian market, and Love Lane Kitchen restaurant, among others.

One view of the tasting room

One view of the tasting room

The wine bar is a small room, but it is well laid out, with a bar along one side and comfy chairs around tables, as well as a small piazza out the back, overlooking the Love Lane parking lot.  We happened by on a Sunday afternoon, when local Pearl River oysters were on offer, so we decided to partake of some after our tasting ($20 for a dozen).  In addition to their own wines, they also carry bottles by Wölffer Estate (on the South Fork) and Brooklyn Oenology.  In fact, the last time we were there they were doing a side-by-side tasting with Brooklyn Oenology, which we quite enjoyed.  They also carry their own verjus, a non-alcoholic drink people sometimes use in salad dressing or cooking.

We didn't get to try this Wolffer Estate wine, but we really liked the bottle.

We didn’t get to try this Wolffer Estate wine, but we really liked the bottle.

Their menu offers three options, the “Round Trip,” featuring a white, a rosé, and two reds for $12; Whites, four whites for $12; or Reds, four reds for $14.  We opted for one each of the white and the red, so we could try all their wines.  The pour is fairly generous.  Our server was enthusiastic and friendly, fairly well-informed.  In addition, she did a very nice job gift-wrapping a pretty bottle of a Wölffer wine for another customer.

The server helping another couple choose some wines to bring as gifts.

The server helping another couple choose some wines to bring as gifts.

  1. 2014 Sauvignon Blanc                   $19

This is a bit tarter than the usual North Fork sauvignon blanc, with a bit of a woodsy aroma and some tastes of kumquat and lemon.  My husband immediately plans to have this when he gets his oysters, but I’m not sure I like this.  I think I like the Jamesport sauvignon better.

  1. 2014 Rosé $19

The server informs another couple at the bar that this is their top seller, at least this summer, and I can see why.  It is a very light rosé, a blend of 75% merlot and 25% “wild” chardonnay (about which more in a moment), with an initial “rush of sweetness,” according to my tasting buddy.  I taste not fully ripe cantaloupe, which is in my mind because that’s what we got at a farm stand this week.  Good, but we still prefer Croteaux.

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  1. 2014 The Wild! $20

What is wild here is the yeast, meaning that the wine is fermented using only naturally occurring yeasts, a process I find fascinating, since the winemaker gives up a bit of control over the process by doing this.  I quite like this one, though the aroma is a touch musty, with maybe a hint of pencil shavings.  The taste is a little sweet, with some honey and citrus, but not too sweet.  I decide I’ll have this with my oysters, even though the sauvignon is actually a better fit.

I really liked their label designs.

I really liked their label designs.

  1. 2014 Brio $24

Since brio means vivacity or verve, I’m interested to see whether this wine has these qualities.  It is a blend of 66% chardonnay, 14%viognier, 8% malvese, and 20% muscat canelli, according to the menu.  That doesn’t quite compute, according to my math-challenged mind, but the result is interesting.  The aroma is complex, with a touch of toffee, a bit of funk, plus more.  “Lots going on,” says my husband, who doesn’t particularly like the wine.  I disagree.  I taste apricot and gooseberry, and like it.  I also like that the whites are not served too cold.

Nice size pour

Nice size pour

  1. 2012 Merlot $24

Now we switch to reds, and get a fresh glass.  According to the menu, this merlot is “blousy,” and after some hilarity with clothing puns, we decide we have no idea what that means in terms of this wine.  The wine spends 20 months in French oak.  Aroma has a touch of barnyard, but also cherry, and the taste is the typical cherry taste of North Fork merlots, with a bit of tannin at the end.

Another view of the room, featuring bags of Vines and Branches' very popular truffle popcorn.

Another view of the room, featuring bags of Vines and Branches’ very popular truffle popcorn.

  1. 2012 Marco Tulio $24

I figure there must be a story behind this name, and indeed there is.  The wine is named for the owner’s father, who recently passed away at the age of 99.  “He drank wine every day!” our server informs us.  Sounds like quite an endorsement for wine drinking.  This is a wine one could easily drink every day, with an aroma of cherry and dark fruit and a light delicate taste.  It is a blend of 59% merlot, 39% cabernet franc, and 9% petit verdot, and spends 14 months in French oak.

  1. 2012 Cabernet Franc $34

Although this is labeled cab franc, the menu informs us that this too is a blend, of 79% cab franc, 20% merlot, and 1% petit verdot.  There’s some cherry in the aroma, thanks to the merlot, but also plums and spices, perhaps allspice.  This is very good, and I could see drinking it with boeuf bourguignon—soft, with lots of fruit and a bit of woodiness.

Another cool label design

Another cool label design

  1. 2013 Bond $20

One more blend—63% cabernet franc, 22% cabernet sauvignon, 9% petit verdot, and 6% merlot—and the fact that it is a blend and the choice of the name are both appropriate.  They called it “Bond” to commemorate their opening on Love Lane, as a thank you to the other local merchants and how welcoming and friendly they were.  We actually saw that friendliness in action when we ordered the oysters.  The owner of Pearl River asked my husband if he wanted lemon, and then offered a squeeze of “Realemon,” which my husband declined.  Before we had a chance to eat any, he reappeared with some lemons which Lombardi’s had given him and which he quickly sliced for us.  How nice.  And so were the oysters—oh, and so is Bond!  I really liked it, though our server opined that it would be even better in a year or two.  The aroma is quite fruity and the taste has a good balance of fruit and tartness.

Pearl River oysters for sale on Love Lane

Pearl River oysters for sale on Love Lane

Reasons to visit:  a convenient location on Love Lane—you can buy a bottle and then stop in to the cheese shop and put together a picnic (I recommend Bond to go with your cheese.); The Wild!, Brio, Marco Tulio, Cabernet Franc, and Bond; oysters on Sunday afternoons; you can buy bottles of Wölffer Estate and Brooklyn Oenology wines as well.

Our oysters, waiting for the lemon to arrive. I had The Wild!, but I have to admit that my husband's choice of the Sauvignon Blanc was a better match.

Our oysters, waiting for the lemon to arrive. I had The Wild!, but I have to admit that my husband’s choice of the Sauvignon Blanc was a better match.

Stroll Love Lane in Mattituck and you can visit some cute shops for gifts, food, cheese, and wine.

Stroll Love Lane in Mattituck and you can visit some cute shops for gifts, food, cheese, and wine.

Roanoke Vineyards and Brooklyn Oenology: Face Off! August 9, 2014

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

http://www.roanokevineyards.net/

http://www.brooklynoenology.com/

One corner of the tasting room

One corner of the tasting room

“Wow, that was fun,” we agreed, as we left the Roanoke Vineyards Tasting Bar on Love Lane in Mattituck.  We had arrived about 3:30, not knowing that a pop-up event was about to happen, pairing Roanoke wines with wines made by Brooklyn Oenology (BOE).  Though the event was due to start at 4, we were able to do the tasting early, and, because the room was fairly calm at the moment, we had lots of attention from Roanoke’s Robin and BOE winemaker Alie Shaper.

Normally, Roanoke features wine from Grapes of Roth and Wölffer Estates (on the South Fork) as well as their own, and they offer a menu of choices from each.  I would have liked to taste some of the Wölffer wines, as it had been years since I’d tried them, but the only Wölffer selections on offer were hard ciders.  However, once we realized we could do the Roanoke vs. BOE face-off, we knew what we had to do.  For $20 we got to taste eight wines, four from each, paired for similarity of grape and type.  I love tasting two wines made from the same grape, grown in the same region, and seeing how they differ.

The Tasting Bar is a small storefront, augmented by tables on a petite patio in the back and some tables for two along the side of the building, and includes the tasting bar and some small tables and a few comfortable chairs where it would be nice to sit and sip a glass.

As we tasted each selection, Robin and Alie alternated telling us about each wine, how it was made, and so on.

The whites

The whites

  1. Roanoke Vineyards (RV) 2013 The Wild                 $20

Why “The Wild”?  This is made with, said Robin, “indigenous yeast,” or in other words naturally occurring yeast, using chardonnay grapes from a Mudd vineyard which was originally planted in 1982.  They’re not sure which clone it was, but it may have been a muscat, which would account for some of the sweetness in the wine.  We detect an aroma of cedar shavings with tastes of pineapple and mango.  It reminds me a bit of Channing Daughter’s L’Enfant Sauvage, which is also made with wild yeasts.  Yum, in any event!  I could happily sip this wine on the deck on a summer night.

2.  BOE 2013 Social Club White         $18

I guess this is paired with the wild because it is a similar weight white, but this is a blend of grapes from Upstate and the North Fork (Alie joked that she would love to have permission to plant vines in a park in Brooklyn, but that’s, alas, not likely.) The blend is 60% chardonnay, with smaller amounts of pinot gris, pinot blanc, Vidal blanc, riesling, and gewürztraminer.  I hadn’t heard of Vidal blanc before, and Alie noted that it is a Finger Lakes grape, as are the riesling and the gewürztraminer and the pinot gris.  With all those Finger Lakes grapes I was expecting sweet, but this is a lovely dry wine with some citrus aromas and a bit of a taste of tangerine.

The roses--note the pretty label and pretty colors

The roses–note the pretty label and pretty colors

3.  RV 2013 Derosa Rosé $19

Poetically, my husband compares the aroma to a “forest after the rain,” and I do agree that it has some flowery sweetness—in the taste as well as the aroma.  It’s not a bad rosé, and many people would probably like it, but we prefer it drier.  The name, by the way, is after the family’s Grandma Rose.

4.  BOE 2013 Cabernet Franc Rosé $18

I have to give the prize in this comparison to the BOE wine, which is made with wild yeast and uses Finger Lakes grapes.  The color is very pretty, the aroma is very strawberry, and the taste is a bit reminiscent of a berry sorbet—so, too sweet for us, but more complex and interesting than the Roanoke.  I admire the beautiful label, and Alie enthusiastically tells us that all her labels are designed by Brooklyn artists, with a special peel-off feature if you want to save the pretty pictures.  This particular one was designed by Patricia Fabricant, and after they chose her design they learned that she is the daughter of Florence Fabricant, who writes about food and wine for The New York Times.

5.  RV 2010 Bond $19

We get fresh glasses for the reds, a nice touch.  Their Bordeaux blend, this wine varies its composition from year to year, depending on the qualities of the grapes.  This one is mainly merlot, and spends 10 months in neutral oak casks, then stainless steel.  We smell cedar and berries, and taste blackberry.  Though not a bad wine, it is a bit thin, and lacks depth.

6.  BOE 2012 Social Club Red $20

So I had to ask, “Why Social Club?”  Alie explains that when she moved to Brooklyn (the winery’s tasting room is located in Williamsburg, of course) she noticed all the immigrant social clubs, and decided to name her wines for them. She liked the idea of wines that were casual and friendly.   Also a Bordeaux blend, Alie’s wine is 77%merlot, 18%, cabernet sauvignon, and 5% Corot noir.  Corot noir?  The grape is a hybrid created at Cornell, and adds a dark color to the wine, without the use of chemicals.  We like it very much, tasting plenty of fruit with a bit of side of the tongue sweetness yet dry at the end.

7.  RV 2010 Merlot $45

2010 was a great year on the North Fork, but we’re not crazy about this wine.  We smell cinnamon, plus some of that local earthiness, and taste some fruit and some smoke.  Perhaps it needs more time.

On to the reds

On to the reds

8.  BOE 2010 Merlot $25

Okay, same grape, same year, though BOE adds 4% petit verdot, sourced from Onabay’s vineyard in Cutchogue.  Again, we smell cinnamon, some earthiness, but the taste differs.  It has more fruit , a dry finish, and is softer, with no smoke.  We like it!

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We buy a bottle each of the BOE Merlot and the RV The Wild and browse the small selection of gifts.  They have the Govino glasses, which we have bought as gifts in the past.  They’re a high quality plastic, nice on a picnic or a boat.  Oh, and as to who won the face off?  I’d have to say we did, because we got to sample wines from two wineries and only had to travel to one!

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Reasons to visit:  convenient tasting room in the middle of the North Fork on Love Lane, which is itself a destination with its cheese shop, Bookhampton book store, Love Lane Country Kitchen, and more; The Wild; the chance to taste wines from other vineyards as well.

The back patio

The back patio