Of all the classic grape varieties, Pinot Noir is one of the most difficult to grow. There was never much hope that Pinot Noir would be the stand out varietal out on the East end but that hasn’t stopped winemakers from trying. Several wineries on the North Fork bottle Pinot Noir and on this sunny Sunday afternoon I tried a few.
2014 Martha Clara Vineyard Pinot Noir 6025 Sound Ave., Riverhead.
Medium to dark red in the glass, sweet cherry on the nose, crisp acids up front with red cherry and smoke notes on the light fruit.
2013 McCall Winery Pinot Noir “HIllside” 22600 Main Road, Cutchogue.
A real working farm as the earthy scent in the air attests to, the tasting room is in an old potato barn. This wine is the middle of a trio of Pinot Noir they pour, medium red, black cherry and tobacco on the nose with tight, smokey black cherry on the fruit ending with some tartness.
2012 Castello di Borghese Vineyard Pinot Noir “Estate” 17150 County Road 48, Cutchogue.
This is the site of the first vineyard (Hargrave) on Long Island in 1973. Medium red, sour cherry on the nose with sour red fruit and some earth on the fruit with some tartness at the end.
My pet peeve again.
I don’t mind when the tasting rooms charge wine bar prices for a glass of wine, after all they have a business to run, but I feel that their wines would be better showcased and the wine drinker have a better wine drinking experience if they served their wines in proper glasses instead of the thimble-sized glasses that many of the tasting rooms on the North Fork do.
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