Category: Bruno Donaggio

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.