Author: Bruno Donaggio

Last Sunday was a rainy day so I decided to take a ride out East to wine country.  I like touring the wineries when it’s raining because I don’t mind being indoors when the weather is not too good and I don’t fee guilty about being indoors when the weather is lousy. On the weekends most of tasting room have some sort of musical entertainment to go along with the wine. I decided to stop into tasting rooms that are off my radar and that I don’t stop into often.

My first stop was Lieb Cellars winery located at 35 Cox Lane Road in Matttituck. They share their location with the Premium Wine Group, a custom crush facility that produces wine for over 70 vineyards. They describe their tasting room as “industrial chic”. The winery is known for their Pinot Blanc which is not widely planted out here but I had the red flight tasting.  Of the five reds I taste which included the 2005 Reserve Merlot, the 2008 Petit Verdot, the 2008 Right Coast Red,  the 2005 Meritage and the 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc, the Cab Franc was my favorite with  a stemmy, vegetal nose, silky fruit with a moderate to long finish. I felt that all of the reds have crisp acids at the finish.

From there I kept heading East to stop at the Winemakers Studio, the cooperative tasting room in Peconic. After drinking all that red at Lieb I started with a tasting of the 2011 Anomoly which is a white Pinot Noir. It had a slight copper color with good body and balance, unoaked and dry it was a nice glass of wine. Other than that there was nothing new to try so I grabbed an espresso and hit the road.

The weekends are the busiest time for tourists to visit the wineries and most of the wineries have live music and I was in the mood to listen to some music and chill out with a glass of wine in my hand. Bedell Cellars is on the way back west and I know they usually get a good crowd on the weekends so I stopped in. Sure enough it was pretty crowded. The front room had the wine flight tasters and the back event space was packed with people having a good time drinking wine and listening to the one-man band. I grabbed a glass of the 2011 “First Crush” Red. A blend of Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc aged entirely in stainless steel with indigenous yeast, it was dry, young and fruity, a good party wine to sip.

 

Back on the road I passed Laurel Lake Vineyards at 3165 Main Road, Laurel. It’s one of those wineries that are off my radar, in fact I couldn’t remember the last time I stopped in so I decided to stop in this time. Bedell Cellars was a crowded party, when I walked into this tasting room there was a quartet of people out back listening to the two-man band and thats it. The guys were doing a good job of playing Hank Williams “Hey Good Looking” so I grabbed as glass of the 2009 Cabernet Franc and spent the end of the Sunday afternoon with a glass of red in my hand and listening to the excellent music.

I’ve missed most of the trade wine tastings this Autumn season, sigh. I decided to drop in at the Opici Fall Tasting that was held last Thursday afternoon for a few minutes to say hi to wine drinking colleagues and to grab a quick taste. The event was held at the Prince George Ballroom which is located at 15 East 27 Street.

I didn’t stay very long but some highlights included: Peju Provence Winery “Tess”.  A non vintage blend of four red grapes and Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The wine was served chilled and it was the perfect Summer wine for when you don’t want to drink a heavy red but want something with a touch more character than a white. Great balance, easy drinking and chilled.

The 2008 Chalk Hill Estate Red is about half Cabernet Sauvignon with the rest a Bordeaux blend. It was dark, chewy and chunky with some mint and tobacco on the nose and dark chocolate on the fruit.

The 2006 Vibreti Barolo Riserva “Bricco Delle Viola” was medium red with a nose of leather and dried fruit with a silky finish and firm but balanced tannins and acids at the end.

This past Saturday I attended the Wine Riot tasting held at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue.  Wine Riot is a walk around tasting event that is held in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and D.C. These consumer tastings usually turn into drink fests with boatloads of mid-level wines and people looking to party. I wasn’t expecting a serious wine tasting. On Saturday they had afternoon and an evening session as well as a session Friday night. I attended the afternoon session.

The event was targeted to the 20ish-30ish crowd, a fact that was made evident to me when I tried to get a tasting sheet to write notes on. There were no tasting sheets because it was assumed that you would take notes on an “app”. Now for people of a certain age, an app was something you had before the Veal Parmigiano came out. So I basically had to scribble notes on any business card I could get my hands on. Also the glasses the provided were “surgical grade” plastic stemless glasses. As a rule, I don’t like to drink wine from plastic but I suppose at an event liek this with a lot of amateurs and unlimited wine for four hours, it was probably for the best. I hate the stemless glasses. They are awkward to hold and I’ve spent a lot of years perfecting the proper twirl with a stem glass. No food was provided but there were some vendors selling food.

There were few familiar names at the event but I had a few favorites. Steele Winery from Lake County appellation in California had some nice wines. Their 2010 Pinot Blanc was creamy, buttery and toasty. The 2011 Shooting Star Chardonnay (their second label) had tropical fruits on the nose and was much leaner than the Pinot Blanc. The 2009 “Writers Block” Malbec was tight with notes of roasted coffee. Their 2009 “Outcast” red blend was black in color with a big nose of chocolate mint and crushed blackberries with roasted coffee on the finish as well as some heat peeking through on that finish.

I liked the 2009 Garnacha from Las Rocas, Spain. Juicy and earthy with a firm, crisp finish.

Saturday night I travelled out East to Lenz Winery which is located on Route 25 in Peconic, to attend their 23rd annual Merlot World Classic. Not surprisingly it was a tasting event that featured about 50 different Merlot from the East End and from other states and countries. Lenz  winery established in 1978, is one of the founding fathers of the Long Island wine industry and are known for their Merlot.

It was a beautiful late Summer afternoon and the tasting took place in a tent outdoors. Other than the wines being poured, they served some cheese and salami although a nice steak would have went really well with all that Merlot being poured.

I made a bee-line to the California table and started the day tasting the most expensive wines at the event. Past experience has taught me that those were the wines that would be gone first, I had a trio of some very nice juice.

The 2007 Twomey Napa Valley Merlot was very nice, dark red with a nose of crushed blackberries and mint with dusty mouth filling fruit but restrained with great tannins/acid balance on the finish.

The 2010 Plumpjack Napa Merlot was much more of a  fruit bomb than the Twomey. Black, thick and jammy with firm tannins on the finish. I think it needs more time in the bottle for everything to come together.

The 2009 Shafer Napa Valley Merlot was medium dark red with red floral notes on the nose, chewy velvety fruit with nice balance on the finish.

After sampling the three high-end Cali Merlot I made my way to the French table.  I enjoyed a couple of the right-bank Bordeaux. The 2001 Chateau Simard was showing very well. Brick red with a nose of stewed red fruits and mint, nice dusty fruit on the palate with good balance. It’s nice to try wines with some bottle age and there were a few of those at this tasting this afternoon. This wine was drinking nicely now and I wouldn’t hold on to it for much longer. The 2009 Chateau de Sales had a nose of  green olive and toasty oak with tight and concentrated fruit.

I then decided to sample  the local wines. Since I was at Lenz Winery I started at their table first. They poured the 2002 Old Vines Merlot. Another wine with some bottle age, this one was dark red with stewed bright fruits on the nose, velvety fruit with a nice balance of tannins and acids on the long finish. Nice job.

Mattebella Vineyards is pretty new on the LI wine scene, they opened their tasting room this year.  They poured the 2007 Old World Blend which is 84% Merlot with the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Dusty cinnamon and spice on the nose, woodsy fruit and nice balance. The 2008 Old World Blend came from a leaner year which explained the tighter fruit.

The 2005 Jamesport Estate Merlot Block E was medium to dark red with a nice nose of dusty black cherry, the fruit on the lighter side with crisp acids on the finish.

Wolffer Estate Vineyards poured a couple of interesting wines. Their 1998 Estate Selection Merlot was dark red with elegant fruit with some alcohol peeking through on  the finish, it is aging well.  They poured the 2010 Christian’s Cuvee which will be available next year. At $100 a pop I had some high expectations for the wine. 100% Merlot made from their oldest vines, very big nose of black cherry, silky fruit with a hint of acid on the finish but a smooth long finish. Very nice wine.

This past holiday weekend I decided to take a road trip to Long Island wine country on Sunday. Before I start I just have to mention one of my pet peeves when it comes to wine drinking. Wine glasses. The wine drinking experience is enhanced with the proper glass. The same wine will always taste better in a proper wine glass than in a plastic cup. Some wineries insist on pouring their tastings in thimble sized wine glasses. You can’t swirl, you can’t sniff, you can’t observe the color of the wine. You would think that wineries would want to showcase their product in the best light possible and I don’t mind paying to taste the wines, the least they can do is serve the wine in the proper glass.

My first stop of the day was at Waters Crest Winery at 22355 Route 48 in Cutchogue. The under the radar tasting room is the only one on Long Island located in a strip mall. The owner/winemaker Jim Waters is a negociant, he doesnt’ own any vineyards but buys grapes from local growers. I started the tasting with a sample of their 2011 Rose. What caught my eye was the bottle had the same shape as the prestigious Domaines Ott Rose. The bottle was nice and the wine wasn’t bad either, salmon color, dry with a clean, crisp finish. As I was sipping the wine, I heard the sounds of a crowd coming from the barrel room in the back. I asked the pourer what was going on and she told me they were there for the barrel sample tasting. I asked if that was still available and it was, so I made my way to the back room where Mr. Jim Waters and his wine thief gave out samples of four of his 2010 red wines. 2010 was a great vintage for Long Island so I had high hopes. The wines didn’t disappoint. The 2010 Merlot was harvested at 1.5 tons per acre and was dark to black, dense and chewy with some mint and cinnamon on the nose with moderate tannins. The 2010 Cabernet Franc was black with a nose of dried herbs, dense, with great fruit and silky tannins and moderat acids on the finish. The 2010 “Book Ends” was 90% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Cabernet Franc rounding out the rest. It was dark and concentrated with a huge aromatic nose of crushed blueberries and dried herbs, great balance with a moderate to long finish. The last wine poured was the 2010 “Campania Rosso” and it is 85% Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc filling out the rest. It was black and concentrated with a nose of vanilla, cinnamon, crushed blueberries concentrated fruit with firm tannins and acids. I did get some heat on the finish but still a tasty wine. And they did serve the wines in a proper glass, small to medium with the upper part of the glass tapered in.

Next stop was Anthony Nappa’s Winemakers Studio located at 2885 Peconic Lane, Peconic. Many of the local winemakers have side projects and bottle wines under a second label. They are poured at this tasting room which is in a former 19th century general store. They had two new red wines they I haven’t had before both made by Anthony Nappa.

The 2010 “Dieci” is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It was dark red to black with dried red fruits on the nose, chewy, chocolatey fruit with good balance. The 2010 “Blackbird” is 100% Merlot. It was dark red to black, ripe red cherry on the nose, tight fruit with firm tannins on the moderate to long finish. Nice wines. They do serve in a small wine glass but at least the shape was correct.

My last stop of the afternoon was at Clovis Point Winery located at 1935 Main Road in Jamesport. I’ve been here a few times before but only had their whites, today I had their red flight. And they served them in real Riedel wine glasses! The wines I enjoyed:

 

The 2005 Merlot had a nose of dusty prunes and spice with dusty fruit and good balance on the finish. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was black with toasty oak and mint on the nose with fruit of crushed blackberries.  The 2008 Cabernet Franc was medium red with white pepper on the nose, tight fruit with a peppery finish. The 2006 “Vitners Select” Merlot was unusual. It was made from free run juice, that is the grapes were not run through a wine-press. Medium dark with a nose of stewed fruits, tight with mouth filling tannins and crisp acids on the finish.

After the tasting I grabbed a glass of their NV Rose (100% Cab Franc) and relaxed out back before heading home.

This past Saturday I took a road trip to Atlantic City to attend the Cal-Ital wine event which was billed as “A Celebration of California and Italian wine”. The event was held at the Golden Nugget Casino on the marina. The event featured Italian wine producers and California wine producers with an Italian background as well as wine produced from Italian varietals.

The Golden Nugget casino was formally the Trump Marina and had gone through extensive renovation and it shows. The casino has that spanking brand new look and not the frayed around the edges look like some of the casinos on the boardwalk have. They held the event in the “Grand Room” which was the huge event space with lots of chandeliers and red tones.  I had an enjoyable evening, they poured enough decent juice to make the night interesting, and of course, the models they hired as pourers didn’t hurt. This event was much better than the food and wine fest that AC had a few weeks ago. That event had an ocean of mediocre wines.

The Italian producers I sampled were: Cerreto, Michele Chiarlo, Tommasi, Marcarini, Banfi, Frescobaldi, Lungarotti, Antinori, Castello di Querceto, and Terre di Talaimo.

The California producers I sampled were: Sbragia, Pellegrini, Levendi, Cosentino, Seghesio, Schafer, Altamura, Louis Martini, Flora Springs, Pedroncelli, Sebastiani, Ferrari Carano, Trinchero, and Montevina.

The 2009 Sbragia “Home Ranch” Merlot was medium red with a toasty dark chocolate coverd cherry nose with great balance and a long finish.

Levendi from Napa was a winery I haven’t tried before.  Their 2007 “Symphony” Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) was medium red with a dried herb bouquet on the nose, tight concentrated fruit with a medium to long finish. The 2006 “Sweetwater Ranch” single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) had an interesting nose of tar and violets with tight and very concentrated fruit with a firm but balanced long finish. Very tasty.

The 2009 Shafer Napa Valley Merlot was dark red with a nose of dark chocolate and bluberries, chewy dense fruit with a long finish.

The 2008 Altamura Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was another Cali wine with a dark color with a nose of black plums, chewy fruit and a long finish.

The Louis Martini 2008 Lot No. 1 Cabernet Sauvignon had a brambly, dried rosemary nose and juicy, mouth puckering tannins and acids on the finish.

From Trinchero Vineyards the 2008 “Chicken Ranch” Merlot was medium dark with a dusty nose with chewy, toasty fruit on the palate. The 2008 “Central Park West” Cabernet Sauvignon  had a nose of spicy plums and oak with tightly wound fruit of dark berries and oak and firm acids on the finish.

From the Italians I enjoyed Frescobaldi’s Super Tuscan the 2004 Luce (Sangiovese, Merlot). Medium red, nose of tar and violets, chewy earth on the long finish.

The Ceretto 2007 Barolo Zonchero had an atypical nose of black cherry with the fruit on the light side and chewy tannins on the finish.

Tomassi’s 2007 Amarone was a delicious wine, medium dark, the nose was closed but had some dark berry flavors peeking through, concentrated fruit with bright red cherry on the finish. Not at all like the typical jammy Amarone.

The 2009 Peppoli Chianti Classico from Antinori had what I thought a dark color for a Chianti with spicy chocolate on the nose with bright fruit and crisp acids on the finish.

The 2008 Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Riserva was medium red with earth on the nose with good fruit followed by mouth puckering tannins on the finish.

After the visit to Zugibe Vineyards I continued on wine road over the top of the lake to the west side and continued south toward Watkins Glen. The wineries I visited on the west side of the lake included White Springs Winery, Monello Vineyards, Anthony Road Wine Company, Magnus Ridge and Shaw Vineyards.

First stop was White Springs Winery.  I had the Pinot Gris 36 NV. Aged in oak for a long 36 months, on my notes I had notes of “pixie stix” on the dry finish, very unusual. The Riesling 101 NV (from the first 101 gallons of the pressed grapes) had a pleasant floral nose with orange peel and nice mouth puckering acids on the finish.  The 2010 Gewürztraminer was dry and had the classic nose of lychee and grapefruit peel with nice balance and a long finish .

 

 

At Anthony Road Wine Co., the PN II NV is a red made from the second sorting of grapes and was light red with a nose of warm stewed strawberries with a light finish that  I thought could have used a bit of a chill. The Devonian Red NV is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Lemberger and was bright red with crisp, sour cherry fruit. The 2010 Pinot Noir was light in color with a nose of smoky old leather.

At Shaw Vineyards they had some pretty cool artwork hanging around the tasting barn. I had the pleasure of chatting with owner/winemaker Mr. Steve Shaw while I sampled his wines. One of the unique things about this winery is that Mr. Shaw does not release his wines immediately but holds them  back (including the whites) for some time before making them available. The 2006 Chardonnay aged in steel had a nose of forest floor with a dry finish of dusty, aged cheese. It was better than it sounds. His 2005 Chardonnay was aged for 24 months in oak and had an interesting nose of bubble gum with a toasty finish.  The 2009 Rose is blend of Cabernet Franc and Pinot Grigio and  had some salinity on the nose with a touch of RS on the finish. The  2006 Cabernet Franc had tight fruit with some stemmines and good balance on the finish.  The best wine of the day in my opinion was the 2007 Pinot Noir.  A nose of crushed blackcherry and earth with silky, mouth filling fruit with smoky and earthy notes on the long finish. I picked up a couple of bottles for the wine cave back home.

This past Wednesday I decide to take a road trip to the Finger Lakes wine country. I had been to Seneca Lake a couple of years ago to visit the wineries and decided to visit the lake again this time. I made my home base the town of Watkins Glen which sits on the southern tip of the lake.

Seneca Lake is the deepest of the Finger Lakes (600+ ft) and has the most wineries and tasting rooms (50+). The Finger Lakes have been voted as some of the most beautiful wine country in the world, I haven’t been all of the wine country in the world but it is very scenic especially on the east side of the lake where the road that takes you to the wineries is on a ridge and the vineyards slope down to the lake. The tasting rooms on the east side of the road all have an outdoor terrace where you can sit with a glass in your hand and take in the gorgeous view of the vines and the lake.

Seneca Lake is big, it took me six hours to circumnavigate the wine trail starting from Watkins Glen working my way counter-clockwise. The wineries I visited on the East side of the lake included  Damiani, Red Newt Cellars, Sheldrake Point, Leidenfrost, Kings Garden Vineyard and Zugibe Vineyards.

My first stop was at Damiani. When I was last here a couple of years ago their tasting room was a small shack by the side of the road since then they have since opened a much larger tasting room. I remember being impressed with their Pinot Noir. This time around I tried the 2010 “Sunrise Hill” Pinot Noir, light red with a nose of black pepper and black cherry, tight with and earthy and smoky finish. The 2010 Syrah “Sawmill Creek” was medium red with a sour cherry nose, tight fruit with big tannins and nice acidity on the finish.

At Red Newt Cellars the 2011 Dry Riesling (1.3RS)  was a tasty wine with a nose of sweet peaches and enough acidity to balance the sweetness to make this a very nice, easy drinking wine for a warm day.  The 2007 Pinot Gris “Curry Creek Vineyards” had a nose of slate and dusty mushrooms with grapefruit flavors on the finish. The 2007 Gewürztraminer “Curry Creek Vineyards”  had an oily nose of petroleum and lycee with crisp acids on the very dry finish. The 2008 Gewürztraminer “Curry Creek Vineyard” was from an obviously different vintage. On my notes I had  a nose of “stinky wildflowers” with sweeter fruit than the ’07 with crisp acids on the stinky finish.

At Sheldrake Point I  enjoyed the 2011 Riesling (.9RS) with a nose of honeydew melon and peaches with melon flavors on the fruit and nice acidity on the finish.

The last stop on the northeast side of the lake was at Zugibe Vineyards. The brother of the wine maker poured while we had a very nice chat about  local wines and various other matters. He poured the only Gruner Veltner (2010) that I sample this day as well as a very tasty Riesling (2010) which was very dry with lemony notes and great mouth-watering acids on the finish. Would have loved a dozen raw oysters to go with that glass. I tried the only Cabernet Sauvignon of the day, the (2008) which was dark with a nose of sweet black cherry, firm fruit with excellent balance on the finish.

This past Saturday I attended the Chefs & Champagne fundraiser event held at Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. The event was the annual tasting party run by the James Beard Foundation and featured small bite culinary offerings by 30 chefs and liquid refreshments by Wolffer Winery and Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne. It was an outdoor event under a huge tent and the weather gods smiled on us that day. The weather was gorgeous, if we would have had one of those oppresively hot days, we all would have been baking under that tent, not to mention what the cooks would have been going through slaving over a hot stove.

 

 

 

 

The Feuillate Champagnes that they poured included the 1997 Palmes d’Or Brut, the 2004 Brut, the Brut NV and the Rose NV.  Wolffer Estate poured their 2009 Chardonnay, the 2011 Rose, the 2008 Merlot, the 2007 Fatum (Bordeaux blend) and the 2010 Diosa late harvest Chardonnay. For a warm Summer afternoon I stuck with the Pink Champagne for my beverage of choice, it was crisp, light and refreshing and went well with most of the food offerings.

It was a pretty crowd. I made my way through most of the food offerings, and of course there were some that I enjoyed more than others. At the carving station they served slices of Spanish Pata Negra (Black Hoof) cured ham. These babies feast on acorns before being processed into cured hams. Very expensive, a slice of the fat-streaked amber meat melts in you mouth with all the porky flavor and the right amount of salt. Very tasty.

Todd English served oysters (Blue Points) several ways. I like the ones “Escargot Style” which were grilled with butter, chopped parsley, lots of garlic and white wine.  Another way I liked them was topped with crabmeat with a red pepper remoulade. Luke’s restaurant served miniature Maine Lobster rolls. Served on a buttered toasted bun. The lobster was tossed with a minamal amount of mayo so I got a mouthful of lobster in every bite. And really, how can you not like lobster on a buttered roll? Very tasty. Jeremy Culver served a chilled pea soup with lobster which was an excellent Summer dish, cool, refreshing and delicious. Jeremy McMillian served Puglian Mozzerella with grilled tomatoes, nigella and fresh pollen. It was a very interesting dish,  the mozzarella was unusual in that it had the texture of ricotta only more tangy. It was another nice Summer dish. I also enjoyed Seamus Mullin’s dish of grilled octopus with summer squash, sun gold tomatoes and olive vinaigrette

I stopped by the after party to nosh on some more Spanish ham and drink splits of pink champagne out of a straw. I hope none of my wine-geeks friends saw me do that.

This past Saturday myself and a colleague took a leisurely drive to wine country out east. I usually start the day at a winery at the eastern edge of the island and work my way back west. I decided that today I would concentrate on white wines and rose. Our fist stop was One Women Wines & Vineyard located at 5195 Old North Road in Southold.  A small family run operation, the one women owner and wine maker is Claudia Perita and her perky and hard working daughter Gabriella who is usually overseeing the little shack of a tasting room. They produce some very nice wines. They bottle the only Gruner Veltner (2010) on Long Island as well as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.  I had the 2008 Estate Reserve Chardonnay, aged in new oak, nose of pineapple and honey with a full mouth feel. The 2008 Chardonnay aged mostly in steel, was crisp and steely.

After leaving the winery we headed east to the village of Greenport. I have to admit with all the times I’ve been to the wineries this was the first time I stopped in Greenport. A scenic former whaling town it was chock full of day trippers on this sunny Saturday afternoon. We stopped for lunch at one of the dock-side restaurants, Claudio’s Clam Shack. I had sashimi tuna nachos with a wasabi sauce which went pretty well with the glass of local rose I was drinking. After a double espresso and a biscotti, it was time to head back west.

 

On the way back we stopped at McCall Winery located at 22600 Main Road Cutchogue. A cattle rancher turned winemaker, the tasting room is in a rustic potato barn and I sipped on the 2010 Marjorie’s Rose of Pinot Noir. Driving further west, the last stop was at the Roanoke Vineyards at 3543 Sound View Avenue, Riverhead and I finished the day with the very tasty 2011 DeRosa Rose.