Category: Bruno Donaggio

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On Friday Gambero Rosso which publishes the authoritative guide to Italian wines held their 2013 annual tasting of the Tre Bicchieri awarded Italian wines. The event was held at the Metropolitan Pavillion event space, I’ve been to many a tasting as this space. It was a huge event with table upon table of Tre Bicchieri awarded wines being poured. There was some nice juice to be had this afternoon even thought the catering company van must have lost their way since the cheese and bread was laid out a couple of hours after the event began.

When I walked in I made a bee-line to the Tuscan section of the room and started the days festivities tasting the iconic Super Tuscans.

The 2009 Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia was black in color with dusty black cherry nose, very concentrated with hints of earth on the finish with some silky tannins. Very nice. From the same producer the 2009 “Masseto” (100% Merlot) was another concentrated red that was black in color with a nose of dark strawberries with sweet chewy fruit and silky tannins at the end.

The 2009 Tenuta San Guido “Sassicaia” had plenty of character, very dark with a nose of dusty plums and dried herbs with sweet cherry fruit and notes of barnyard on the finish. Very manageable tannins. The same wine maker and company produce a couple of Carrignane based reds from Sardegna that were very tasty. The 2009 “Barrua” was dark purple to black, very concentrated with silky fruit and a balanced long finish. The 2010 “Montessu” was dark purple with bright black cherry and strawberry fruits on the nose with silky fruit and bright acidity on the finish. Another Sardinian wine I liked was Tenute Sella & Mosca 2008 “Alghero Tanca Farra”. Dark red with a beautiful perfume of barnyard and roses with chunky and earthy fruit and silky tannin on the finish.

The next stop was Marchesi Antinori 2009 “Tignanello”. Dark red with a nose of red roses and tar, tighter than the Sassicaia and the Ornellaia, it had silky with a floral notes on the balanced finish.

Some more wines from Tuscany I enjoyed included the 2009 Famiglia Cecchi “Coevo”. About half Sangiovese with the rest a Bordeaux blend, it was really black in the glass with a nose of black cherry and roasted nuts, a big wine with mouth coating tannin on the finish.

From Brancaia the 2008 “Il Blu” had an equal amount of Sangiovese and Merlot, it was very dark with a toasty nose with velvety concentrated fruit and silky tannins on the finish.

From Casanova Di Neri the 2006 Brunello di Montalcino was dark red with a slighty closed nose of red roses with big chewy fruit and a balanced finish. Very brawny style for a Brunello.

From Fontodi the 2009 Chianti Classico “Vigna del Sorbo Riserva” was a nice glass, dark and concentrated with velvety fruit and great balance.

Something from Piedmont I enjoyed was Franco M. Martinetti’s 2010 “Rosso Sul Bric”.  An equal blend of Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon it was dark red in the glass with a nose of red roses with silky floral fruit on the balanced finish.

Very nice tasting, lots of good Italian juice, seemed like anything from Tuscany from the 2009 vintage was outstanding, something to keep an on.

This past Wednesday importer Frederick Wildman & Sons held a tasting of their Burgundy portfolio barrel samples of the 2011 vintage. The wines were specially put in bottles for this tasting but back home they are still in barrel. The wines are not available for retail sale yet and they should begin to show up in the States around June of this year. These are straight out of the barrels and are just babies, the wines are still coming togther but it still was an excellent tasting if only to get a handle on the vintage. The event was held at Astra restaurant in the Decoration & Design building on 3 Avenue. I’ve been to a few Burgundy events at this venue.I began the tasting with whites at the table of Maison Olivier Leflaive. I had the pleasure of having Mr. Leflaive himself pour the wines. He poured a horizontal of nine white Burgundy. The Meursault had a big nose of honey and pineapple with a citrusy finish. The nose on the Chassagne-Montrachet was less so but still finished with a burst of citrus.  The Puligny-Montrachet had a closed nose with tight fruit but more balance than the first two whites I had. The Meursault “Poruzots” was my favorite white, you can smell the vanilla and cinamon from the oak with some oak flavors on the crisp, long finish. The Puligny-Montrachet “Champ-Gain” had a big nose of oak, vanilla and pineapple with crisp toast on the finish. I finished with the Grand Cru, the Corton-Charlemagne with oak on the nose and very tight fruit at this stage.

From Domaine Sylvain Cathiard I had the Vosnee-Romanee “En Orveaux” which on my notes I had “really stinky nose” which is not a bad thing in Burgundy.

From Domaine Hubert Freres I enjoyed the Fixin which was nice and rustic with some earth flavors and the Gevrey-Chambertin “Vielles Vignes” had some nice toasty and earthy notes.

From Domaine Alain Burguet the Gevrey-Chambertin “Symphonie” had a nice barnyard nose, it was silky if a little simple with nice balance at the end. The Gevrey-Chambertin “Mes Favorites” Vielles Vigne had a nose of black cherry with great fruit and balance. The Vosne-Romanee “Les Rouges du Dessus” had some nice silky fruit but was a little hard at the end.

I had some nice whites from Chateau Fuisse. The Pouilly-Fusse “Les-Combettes” had a nose of honey with a nice body and great balance. The Pouilly-Fusse “Les Clos” had a mouthful of fruit with great balance and nice acidity at the finish. The Pouilly-Fusse “Les Brules” was gold with toasty full fruit with citrus at the end.

From Domaine Francois Lamarche the Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuit had a big nose of barnyard with the fruit on the light side but still silky.

Hiding in the corner of the room set apart from the other producers were, in my opinion the best reds of the day. Domaine Armand Rousseau poured four of his reds and I really enjoyed three out of the four. I started with the Gevrey-Chambertin. Purple with a nose of crushed blackberries and slate with some notes of bubblegum and earth on the finish, tasted better than that sounds. The Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru was purple with a pretty perfume of red flowers and slate and silky mouth-filling fruit on the palate with nice dusty notes on the finish. Very tasty as was the Clos de la Roch Grand Cru which was purple with a big nose of barnyard and crushed rocks with gorgeous silky fruit and balance on the long finish. The Chambertin Grand Cru had a big perfume but I thought the acid levels were high on the finish.

At the Domaine Faiveley table there was an extraordinary opportunity to try a horizontal tasting of fifteen of his Burgundy, four whites and eleven reds.

The starter white was the Mercurey “Clos Rochette” which had toasty moderate fruit with some minerality on the balanced finish. The Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru had a big nose of toasty and vanilla oak with full fruit on the palate and nicely balanced on the long finish. The reds I enjoyed were the Mercurey “La Framboisiere” which was light red with salty dried herbs on the nose with some chewy fruit on the long finish. The Nuits-St. Georges “Les Damodes” had a delicate nose of barnyard and herbs with silky fruit but finishing with high tannin and acids on the finish. The Chambertin-“Clos de Beze” was medium red with a big nose of barnyard with moderate tight fruit with some heat showing through on the finish. My favorite red at the table was the Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru, big perfume of red roses and slate with velvety fruit on the moderate to long finish. Tasty.

Overall I agree with the assesments of the wine pundits which say this is a vintage more for short term enjoyment than wines to lay down.

This past Monday Vinitaly and Slow Food held their New York stop of their international wine tour. The event was held at the Tribeca Rooftop event space in Tribeca. I’ve been to many wine events at that space and it’s a gorgeous spot to hold an event on the top floor of the building with outstanding views of downtown Manhattan.

This was actually two wine tasting events and various seminars so there was a lot of juice to be had. I went to the trade portion of the tasting in the afternoon and they held a consumer tasting that evening as well though the consumer event had about a quarter of the wines that were available for the trade.

I started the festivities in the Slow Wine room. Some of the wines I enjoyed included the 2008 Damilano Barolo “Cannubi”. The color was brick-red with a nose of smoky leather with chewy and silky fruit, great balance with some dried herbs on the long finish. They also poured the 2008 Barolo “Lecinquevigne”. It was brick red with a nose of sweet tar and leather followed by firm mouth coating tannin on the finish. The 2009 G.D. Vajra Barbera D’Alba was dark purple to black with a nose of crushed red berries with juicy but firm fruit and a long finish. Another Barbera D’Alba I enjoyed was the 2010 Borgogno & Figli. Dark violet with a nose of crushed berries and slate with chewy dusty fruit and good balance at the end. They also poured their 2005 Barolo Riserva. Medium red with a classic nose of cigar box and tar, dusty fruit with the tannin and acid nicely balanced on the long finish.

Bertani poured their 2005 Amarone. Brick red to dark in color with ripe red fruit on the nose with chewy fruit and a tight finish. A couple of Tuscan wines I liked included the 2009 Fattoria Selvapiana Chianti Rufina “Bucherchiale” Riserva. Medium red with a big nose of earth and barnyard with silky chewy fruit and great balance on the earthy and rustic finish.

The 2009 Isole e Olena “Cepparello” was medium dark in the glass with a pretty nose of crushed raspberries velvety with some nice tannin on the long finish.  I had some unusual wines from Podere Il Carnasciale. They had three magnum of their “Caberlot” As the gentleman pouring explained to me, Caberlot is a grape varietal hybrid of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, very unusual. The 2008 was black in the glass with a nose of mint with great concentration and balance with a long finish.

I made my way into the Vinitaly part of the room to see what might interest me. My first table was the Tuscan winery of Carpineto and I had some nice juice. The 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva was violet in color with a pretty nose of red roses, dusty with some bitter almond on the long finish. The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino had a nice nose of smoky leather with silky fruit and great balance. The 2006 “Farnito” (100% Cabernet Sauvignon)  was dark red in the glass with a nose of green peppers and dark berry with tight and chewy fruit and a medium to long finish.

At the next table I sampled the 2007 Biondi Santi Brunello di Montalcino. These guys have improved their wines the last few vintages and this one was very tasty. Medium amber in the glass with a nose of warm leather and roses with sweet fruit with a moderate to short finish.

January has been an embarrassment of riches as far as wine tastings are concerned. Many trade events this month. This week I was able to attend a couple of events that featured American (mostly Cali) Pinot Noir. On Tuesday importer Michael Skunick showcased his portfolio of California and Oregon Pinot Noir. The event was held at the Tribeca Grill. On Saturday City Winery hosted the 2nd annual Pinot Days. Most of the wines presented were from Cali with a few from Oregon thrown in.

My first stop was the Skurnick tasting in Tribeca. They actually had two tastings, their Pinot Noir on the top floor and the rest of their portfolio on the ground floor. I decided to stick with the Pinot. I haven’t had the chance to try many Oregon Pinots lately and this was a good opportunity to do so. It was interesting to see the differences between the Cali Pinot and Oregon. In general, Oregon Pinot Noir were lighter and more delicate with finesse, feminine. The Cali Pinots on the other hand were darker, chewy and brawny wines, masculine.

I started with Oregon at Domaine Serene. They poured five Pinot Noir and all were excellent. The 2008 “Evenstad” was medium red with cherry cola, earth and herbs on the medium light fruit. Long finish. The 2009 “Yamhill Cuvee” cola on the nose with a nice balance of silky, cinnamon fruit. Their entry level 2009 “Oregon” light to medium red with a nose of crushed blueberries with medium juicy fruit.

Another Oregeon winery was Cristom Vineyards. Their 2010 “Jessie” was light in color with muted dark fruit on the nose with a tasty long finish. The 2010 “Mt. Jefferson Cuvee” was light in color with a tosty nose and smoky fruit on the balanced finish.

From Cali Hirsch Vineyards poured his 2010 “Sonoma Coast San Andreas”, moderate to light fruit, smoky with great balance that dropped a bit at the end but still tasty. The 2011 “The Bohan-Dillon” was medium red with a nose of pencil shavings and bright fresh fruit.

A couple of nice wines from Kistler Vineyards, the 2010 “Sonoma Coast” was medium dark with a nose of spicy leather with a silky firm balanced finish. The 2010 “Kistler Vineyard” was medium dark with a nose of blueberries and forest floor, chewy with moderate to long finish.

Martinelli had my favorite Pinot of the night. The 2010 “Bondi Home Ranch” was medium red with a nose of dried herbs and toasted nuts, full fruit with some nice earthiness on the long finish. I also had their 2010 “Zio Tony” which was pretty chewy for a Pinot.

 

From Anthill Farms the 2010 “Anderson Valley” was medium in color with a classic nose of forest floor and barnyard, velvety mouth filling fruit with a great mid palate and nice acidity on the finish.

I spent most of my time in the upstairs Pinot Noir section but downstairs I couldn’t help but to stop by the Vega Sicilia table to try the 2000 and 2002 vintages of “Unico” as well as other wines from Vega Sicilia such as “Alion”, “Pintia”, and “Valbuena 5 Ano”. All outstanding.

Monday afternoon the Grands Crus de Bordeaux held their annual tasting of the current vintage of Grand Cru Bordeaux, in this case the 2010 vintage. These are the new releases. 2010 is reported to be an excellent vintage and the wine pundits have said that the wines are built for long-term aging which means to say that they have a lot of tannin. With that I was expecting the young wines to be tannin bombs.

In general I would say that the vintage produced wines with lots of concentration and structure, or at least with the better wines. Would definitely love to drink these wines five years down the road. The event was held at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

I started the night with a couple of Pomerals: The 2010 Chateau Clinet was black with dark berries on the nose, young and silky with green olives on the finish and moderate tannin. The 2010 Chateau Gauzin was dark red with a nose of ripe berries, tight and chunky with lip-smacking tannin on the long finish. The 2010 Chateau La Cabanne was black with toast and barnyard on the nose with good fruit and nicely balanced on the moderate-long finish.

From Saint Emilion the 2010 Clos Fourtet was black with a pretty nose of berries and stewed prunes with a chewy fruit, good structure and mouth filling tannin on the finish. The 2010 Chateau Grand Mayne was black with a sweet perfume of red roses and cherry, silky fruit with firm tannin on the finish.

From Margaux I had the 2010 Chateau Brane-Cantenac. It was dark with a very perfumed nose of red roses with dusty fruit and prunes on the long finish. The 2010 Chateau Pieure Lichine was black with dark stone fruits on the nose with concentrated dusty fruit and good structure with full tannins on the finish.

From Saint Julien I had the 2010 Chateau Beychevelle. Dark red with a nice perfumed toasty nose with silky dusty fruit, nice balance and moderate tannin. Drinkable now. The 2010 Chateau Gruaud LaRose was black with a perfumed nose of toasted nuts. The 2010 Chateau Leoville Poyferre was black with a nose of stone fruit, concentrated with big tannins on the long finish.

From Paulliac the 2010 Chateau D’Armailhac was black with some smoke and dark berries on the nose with sweet chewy fruit with moderate tannin on the long finish. One of my favorites of the night. The 2010 Chateau Lynch-Bages was dark with a pretty perfumed nose of red cherry and earth with red cherry fruit that dropped a bit at the end. The 2010 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was black with mint and dusty black berries on the nose that needs time for things to come together but with great structure and manageable tannins. Another favorite of the night.

Usually when it’s a good vintage in Bordeaux it’s so-so for the sweet wines. I tried a dozen Sauternes/Barzac wines and none thrilled me. I thought they were sweet and syrupy and lacked finesse.

Tuesday night I attended a sit-down tasting of seven Rhone wines. This was a MeetUp group of fellow wine drinkers. The group met at Sojourn restaurant on the Upper East Side. All of the wines were served blind and we were to vote on our favorite and least favorite wine.

It was a very nice tasting. All of the wines were from the Northern Rhone and six of the seven bottles were vintages from the 1990’s so it was an opportunity to try wines with some bottle age.

My favorite wine of the night and as it turns out, the all-around favorite at the table and the youngest wine at the tasting was the 2006 Franck Balthazar-Cornas Chaillot.  I had guessed it as the youngest wine on the table, it had a nose of plums and dirty black cherries with dusty lip smacking fruit and some barnyard on the finish.

My next favorite was the 1998 Domaine du Columbier Hermitage. I thought it had meaty and bacon notes on the fruit with a great grip on the long finish.

Another favorite was the 1999 Auguste Clape Cornas. The brambly nose started out a little closed but began to open up in the glass, with tight dusty velvety fruit and herbs on the finish.

The 1997 Tardieu-Laurent Cornas Cuvee Coteaux had a toasty, dried leaf nose with some good fruit which dropped a bit at the end.

 

The 1995 Guigal Hermitage had a slightly jammy closed nose with blackberry and plum notes on the finish.

The 1998 Lesec Hemitage Cuvee Emile was the contriversial wine of the night. I thought the wine corked if ever so slighty but I was getting that on the nose as well as on the finish. Some people in the group agreed and some did not. The finish was fairly harsh so I think the wine was on its way out.

The 1997 Rostaing Cote Rotie was another wine that I felt was on the back end of the drinking curve. Nothing enjoyable about this juice.

When I go out to the wineries out East I have my favorites. But I go back to try all of the others as well. I know that vintages change, owners change, and wine makers change so I go back to see how the new wines are going, and besides, it would be boring to go to the same wineries all the time.

I started my wine tour at Palmer Vineyards located at 108 Sound Avenue in Aquebogue. Palmer is one of the founding fathers of the industry established in the ’80s. He was one of the first guys to push Long Inland wines outside the region. He got American Airlines to carry his wine. I have to admit I’ve been a little disappointed in Palmer’s wines the last few years but I always go back to try the new vintages.

Wine making duties have been taken over by Spanish-born winemaker Miguel Marting. Today I started with their Barrel fermented flight. Three white wines that see a good amount of oak. The 2010 Pinot Blanc was medium gold with a nose of pineapple and ripe peaches with creamy fruit and firm acids and oak on the finish. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc had a very dark gold color with a petrol, oily nose. It wasn’t as ripe as the color suggested and was dry with tight fruit. The 2009 Reserve Chardonnay was dark gold with a nose of butterscotch and was ripe and buttery with toasty fruit and tongue tighting tannin on the finish. These were all big, ripe wines.

The last couple of wines were some of the most exciting wines I’ve tried on the Island for a while. The 2011 Albarino is very limited in production and is served in a 500ml bottle . I believe that Palmer is the only winery growing this Spanish varietal on Long Island. It was light gold with a clean citrus nose, moderate fruit with a clean and crisp finish. Nice wine that was completely different from the wines in the flight I had earlier. Another wine that has a small production and served in the 500ml bottle format was the 2011 Aromatico. A blend of Muscat Canelli and Malvasia, a couple of grape varietals that you don’t see often out East, the wine was light gold with a big perfume of ripe peaches and tasted much drier than the nose would lead you to believe. It had some nice orange peel notes on the crisp finish.  Very unique wines and well done and they used decent glasses too.

I next stopped at Osprey’s Dominion located at 44075 Main Road. One of the off the radar wineries, I had some nice juice this afternoon. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was dark with warm dark plum and camphor on the nose, dusty fruit with some astringency on the finish. They opened one of their library wines to taste, the 2000 Cabernet Franc, it was medium red to dark in color with a nose of smoky dried herbs, tight silky fruit with a firm long finish.  Very nice, it was from a just opened bottle would have liked to air it out for a few minutes. I tried their award-winning 2009 Pinot Noir. Light red to dark, unfiltered so some cloudiness in the glass, it had a nose of cinnamon and black cherry with chewy fruit and a nice balanced finish, it was a nice glass of wine.

This past Wednesday I took a road trip to Boston to attend a Guild of Sommelier seminar on wines of the Roussillon region of France. Roussillon is a wine producing region in South East France bordering the Mediterranean on one side and Spain on the other. The region is famous for their fortified wines called vin doux natural. In fact the region produces over 90% of France’s fortified wines, several of which we tasted at the event.

 The event was held at Moksa restaurant in Cambridge which despite the name, is a sushi restaurant just a stones throw south of Harvard University. It was a sit-down tasting with about a dozen people.

We tried ten wines and we started with a white. The 2009 Domaine Gauby Vielles Vignes is a blend of five grapes and was light yellow with a nose of sweet mushrooms. Medium weight fruit with mineral and candy undertones with nice acidity on the finish. It smelled sweeter than it tasted, interesting.

We then had a flight of three dry reds. The 2010 Domaine Piug-Parahy Georges was a blend of four red grapes and was medium red with a purple robe with a nose of cherry cough drops with bright juicy fruit and some earth on the crisp medium to long finish. Very drinkable. The next wine was the 2010 Chateau Saint Roch Chimeres. A blend of three grapes, it was black purple in color with stemmy cinnamon and black fruit on the nose, it was chunky with some oak and dark fruits on the chewy finish. The 2008 La Coume Del Mas Quadratur was also a blend of three red grapes. It was black purple in color with a nose of barnyard and black cherries and oak with velvety but tight fruit with alcohol peeking through at the end. I though the alcohol made the wine unbalanced.

We tried the fortified wines next. First up was the 2009 M. Chapoutier. Mostly Grenache it was dark red with a nose of stewed dark fruit. Chewy with restrained sweet coffee and chocolate on the finish and great balance. Very tasty. The 2009 Domaine La Tour Vielle was mostly Grenache as well and was black with a slighty closed nose of fresh figs with juicy sweet fruit. The 1998 La Coume Du Roy was amber in color with a nose of caramel, dark chocolate and dried figs. Nutty and mouthfiling with great balance. Very nice. The Mas Amiel Cuvee Speciale 10 Ans D’Age was brown with a nose of chopped nuts and figs with nuts and iron minerality on the finish. The 1999 Domaine Cazes was 100% Grenache Blanc and was similar to a 20 year Tawny. Amber in color with an oxidized, nutty nose and almonds on the finish.

Thursday night I attended a wine tasting at Union Square Wines located at 140 Fourth Avenue. The evening consisted of tastings of the wines of Robert Foley. Mr. Foley who was in attendance this evening, bottles wines under his label and has a hand in a few other labels as well.  The tasting began with a sit-down tasting of six wines followed by a walk around tasting of about a dozen others.

At the sit-down tasting we started with the Red Hook Winery 2010 “Macari Vineyard” Chardonnay. Golden in color with a nose of honey with vicious fruit of pineapple and honey with nice acids on the finish. If I would have tasted it bling I would have picked Cali. I thought it was a big wine.  The next wine was the Engel Family Vineyard 2008 Napa Valley Merlot. It was dark red with a bright dark cherry cocoa nose, very tight with an astringent finish. The 2006 Shelter Wine Company “The Butcher” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was black with a nose of herbs and black cherry, juicy and chewy with nice balance on the long finish. A very fruit forward, big wine.

The 2009 Dos Lagos Vineyard “Atlas Peak” Cabernet Sauvignon was dark with a nose of black cherry,  slate and baked bread with tight velvety fruit with a dusty and long finish. Very tasty. The 2008 Robert Foley “Claret” Napa Valley was dark red to black with dried herbs, black cherry and mint on the nose with firm and silky tannins on the finish. And the last wine at the sit-down portion of the event was Switchback Ridge 2004 Petite Sirah. Black in color with a huge nose of slate and black licorice, chewy and dusty with a nice mouthful of tannin at the end. Very big wine.

After the sit-down tasting food was brought out. It was a fine spread, BBQ ribs, Mac & Cheese and mashed potatoes, all delicious, hearty food that went well with the big wines we were drinking.

For the walk around part of the event we got to sample wines from various wineries that Foley has a hand in. Red Hook Winery poured their 2009 Seneca Lake Riesling, their 2009 Petit Verdot (Long Island) and their 2008 Cabernet Franc “Split Rock (Long Island).

A couple of excellent reds from Switchback Ridge, the 2008 Peterson Family Vineyards Merlot was dark with spicy fruit with a touch of oak and great balance while the 2008 Peterson Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon  was dark red to black with a nose of dark chocolate with tight silky fruit with great balance on the long finish. Very nice.

 

Robert Foley poured his 2010 Carneros Pinot Noir which was very extracted, dark and chewy for a Pinot with lots of cola flavors. Not my style of Pinot. I did enjoy the 2010 “Griffin” red blend. Black with a nose of bright stewed fruit, tight and velvety with a long finish.

I did try one white this evening, Shelter Vineyards 2009 Roussanne which was crisp with notes of herbs and green apples with the 15% alcohol peeking through at the end.

Overall it was a nice tasting of some big wines.

Wednesday afternoon I decided to take a road trip to the wineries out East. It’s been a while since I spent a weekday afternoon at the wineries and the vibe was much different than a weekend outing. For one thing many of the tasting rooms were closed Wednesday and at the ones I stopped by, I was the only customer in the place. But that’s OK since I don’t have to elbow my way to the tasting table and the pourers weren’t frazzled and cranky and I can have a chat with them about the wines.

 

First stop was at Shinn Estates Vineyards at 200 Oregon Road in Mattituck. There is a house dog, in the tasting room, a border collie who is very friendly and likes to chase things. On the weekends she has plenty of people to play with but since I was the only person in the tasting room this day, she was very attentive and frisky. While I was tasting the wines, she kept bringing whatever she could find around the room like branches in order for me to throw.

 

I had their 2011 unoaked Chardonnay which had nice tight fruit with crisp acidity on the finish. I also had their 2009 Estate Merlot with was dark in color and had a nose of cooked black cherries, smoky chocolate fruit with tongue tingling tannin and acids on the finish.

Next stop was Mattebella Vineyards at 46005 Main Road. It’s one of the newest tasting room to open out East and the room is a small cottage, a very small cottage and the flight consisted of six of their wines. I had the 2009 & 2010 Chardoannay. Both with minimal oak aging and I prefered the ’10 which had a nose of vanilla with a clean, crisp easy drinking finish. The 2011 Rose which is mostly Merlot with a bit of Cabernet Franc was Salmon colored with a nose of cherry pixie-stix with a clean, neutral finish. They poured the 2007 & 2008 Old World Blend which is a Bordeaux Blend.

Driving West bound the next winery was Raphel Vineyards at 39390 Main Road. Another of the newer wineries, this winery has the most distinctive tasting room out East. The place was built to look like a Tuscan Villa and it’s no accident that a lot of wedding receptions are held hereif fact every time I tried to stop by on a weekend the place was closed for a private affair, it’s a huge place.  I had their “Library Tasting”. The 2006 Petite Verdot was black with a nose of dusty, dark chocolate. The 2006 Malbec was dark with very tight fruit and a balanced finish and the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was black with a nose of dusty black cherry with very tight fruit with dropped at the finish.

Last stop was Pugliese Vineyards at 34515 Main Road. Pugliese is one of the founding wineries out East established in 1980. It’s a family run operation and there’s always a family member pouring in the tasting room. This day the matriarh and her daughter were doing the honors. It’s a quirky little winery that produces some decent sparkling wines usually poured out of hand-echted bottles and the only Sangiovese that I know on the island. The 2003 Blanc de Noir was crisp with good fruit and drinking nicely and the 2008 Estate Sangiovese was dark red with some juicy fruit.