{"id":1601,"date":"2011-06-16T21:53:55","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T20:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vintuition.net:\/main\/?p=1601"},"modified":"2012-03-20T20:19:30","modified_gmt":"2012-03-20T20:19:30","slug":"long-island-vintners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintuition.net:\/main\/2011\/06\/16\/long-island-vintners\/","title":{"rendered":"New York! New York! Long Island Vintners Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"
Today I went to a tasting with a bit of a difference in that it featured only wines from Long Island. It’s fascinating to think of vineyards just two hours from New York City and having been on a brillant tour of the Finger Lakes wine region last July in upstate New\u00a0York\u00a0it was good to add to the picture of New York State wines by focusing on those from Long Island. New York is home to five official wine regions, each with its own unique climate, scenery and character. These are Hudson River, Finger Lakes, Niagara Escarpment,\u00a0Lake Erie and the Long Island region.\u00a0\u00a0Long Island is descibed as ‘a laid-back maritime haven blessed with sunshine, sea and a long growing season’. At the city\u00a0of Riverhead, Long Island splits into two forks, separated by Great Peconic Bay. Most of the wineries (67 bonded)\u00a0are located on the north fork, with the remaining four on the south fork, better known as the Hamptons.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/div>\n
The event was organised by Sue Chambers of Wine Equals <\/a>,\u00a0an independent online wine merchant for five wineries: \u00a0Paumanok, The Lenz Winery, McCall Wines (from the AVA of North Fork) and\u00a0Channing Daughters and W\u00f6lffer Estate (from the Hamptons AVA). Sue is based in the UK and lives in Richmond, Surrey. There were 32 wines representing these five wineries\u00a0at the tasting,\u00a0held outside under a marquee in Sue’s garden.<\/div>\n

Below is my pick of the best wines. Of the reds, my star wine was the Paumanok Petit Verdot Apollo Drive 2007 <\/strong>in magnum.\u00a0 The wine comes from a plot of land called Apollo Drive. Dark ruby core, \u00a0blue-toned, \u00a0youthful blue rim. Sweet blackcurrant and spice notes, very clean and thankfully no green, herbaceous elements on the nose. A bit more weight and texture on the palate but not a big wine\u00a0 – more of an infectiously\u00a0lively wine\u00a0with very good juicy acidity, and\u00a0dark old fashioned liqourice flavours. Some of the structure of\u00a0an elegant\u00a0Bordeaux\u00a0in a classic cooler year but with vivacious, lively fruit.\u00a0\u00a091\/100<\/p>\n

Mudd West Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2010 –\u00a0<\/strong>Channing Daughters 95% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Chardonnay. \u00a316.99. Pale lemon\/ green tone, good intensity on the nose of flowers\u00a0with subtle notes of lilac and elderflower, more come hither and appealing rather than the stridently green pepper aromas typical\u00a0of Sauvignon Blanc.\u00a0\u00a0Good flavour intensity, with a\u00a0little spiciness on the finish. I\u00a0liked the delicate elderflower character and lack of OTT hebaceousness. Softer delicate style. 90\/100<\/p>\n

Pinot Grigio 2009 –\u00a0<\/strong>Channing Daughters, <\/strong>100% Pinot Grigio\u00a0\u00a315.99.\u00a0Very pale, soft appley and creamy nose. Much more flavour than most Pinot Grigio with a richer,\u00a0creamy texture and fuller mid-palate, with an attractive note\u00a0of bitter\u00a0grapefruit pith on the finish. Bearing in mind Pinot Grigio is\u00a0a fairly thick-skinned variety for a white grape, it can often have a bitter phenoic grip but this can be\u00a0a good foil to some of\u00a0its blander\u00a0textural elements and adds length, just as bitter hops do to some\u00a0beers.\u00a0\u00a0Quite interesting balace overall\u00a089\/100<\/p>\n

Clones 2008\u00a0 – \u00a0<\/strong>Channing Daughters, 90% Chardonnay, 6% Tocai Friulano, 1% Gew\u00fcrztraminer, 1% Aligot\u00e9, 1% Semillon, 1% Viognier.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a320.99.\u00a0Pale lemon, very intense nose of slightly rotting apples, creamy, vegetal, cabbagey Burgundian elements. Lots of creamy weight and texture – \u00a0not sure if I totally like the flavours. But powerful, tangy, long acidity. The flavour has something\u00a0like wet hay combining with\u00a0a vegetal note that I am not fully convinced about, but intriguing.\u00a089\/100<\/p>\n

Merlot 2008<\/strong> – McCall, 100% Merlot \u00a319.99. This was lighter than many typical Merlots but with very appealing,\u00a0vivacious friut. Brighter ruby, \u00a0more youthful tone. Brighter black cherrry, \u00a0plum, vanilla and cream notes, bit like good Beaujolais on a good day in a great vintage like 2009. There is a very appealing sweetness to the fruit on the\u00a0nose. On tasting it has a lively acidity with spicy plum flavours, and\u00a0quite vivid curranty fruit – not a huge wine but fresh, lively and vibrant. I’ve heard their passion is Pinot Noir and based on this wine I can’t wait\u00a0to try it.\u00a0I can imagine they would handle the delicacy very well. 90\/100<\/p>\n

Dry Riesling 2009 <\/strong>–\u00a0Paumanok, 100% Riesling, \u00a318.99.\u00a0Lovely clean aromatic nose, ripe apple, flowers , honey and lime. Similar flavours on palate, lime, \u00a0juicy acidity but just a bit more dilute in concentration. Pretty wine, \u00a089\/100<\/p>\n

Chenin Blanc 2010 <\/strong>–\u00a0 Paumanok, 100% Chenin Blanc, \u00a319.99. Very pale lemon, nose of delicate bruised apple, creamy notes. Sharper green apple and honey flavours, nice balance of bitter-sweet flavours. 88\/100<\/p>\n

Late Harvest Riesling 12’s 2008 <\/strong>– Paumanok, 100% Riesling, \u00a338.99.\u00a0Old gold colour, very sweet honeysuckle notes on nose, hay-like, perfumed nose. Sweet round, creamy, peach like flavours with strong thread of lime juice acidity. 90\/100<\/p>\n

Perle Chardonnay 2008 <\/strong>– W\u00f6lffer Estate Vineyard, 100% Chardonnay (Dijon clone #76), \u00a320.99.\u00a0Very pale\u00a0mother-of-pearl\/white gold in colour.\u00a0Creamy, leesy, butter notes – \u00a0quite Burgundian but not quite. Slightly cheesy notes. Creamy texture,\u00a0oat\u00a0mealy but with a much greener flavour underneath. Almost S B quality to fruit (minus the\u00a0green pepper and plus\u00a0the creamy, leesy, fuller texture).\u00a0 89\/100<\/p>\n

Long Island Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n