Vote for Red: Brooklyn Winery Places Its First Red Wines on the Ballot
Last night marked a historic moment in the short history of Brooklyn Winery. Framed by a timely election-themed backdrop, the first red wine grapes that entered the facility — still a construction site in 2010 — made their public debut as finished wines. The new portfolio of wines were unveiled as part of an exclusive sneak peek for “friends of the winery” — investors, neighbors and the like.
The wines, like politicians, weren’t shy. Winemaker Conor McCormack deemed them “big reds,” and they lived up to their billings.
The “candidates” were each introduced by pre-recorded stump speeches — humorous videos that extolled the platforms and values of each wine :
Brooklyn Winery 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Winery co-owner Brian Leventhal shared an interesting story behind this wine. Brooklyn Winery usually only deals in fresh fruit. However, they bought these cabernet sauvignon grapes — perfectly de-stemmed and frozen –- at a bargain price, with a prestigious Coombsville (Napa) pedigree to boot. After defrosting, the grapes were pressed and then spent 22 months in 80% neutral, 20% new American oak.
Surprisingly fruit-forward (I was convinced that merlot was involved, but it’s not) with the characteristic cabernet tannic structure, it’s a great food wine with lots of fresh blackberry flavor and baking spices that hit high on the roof of the back palate. 14.4% alcohol. David Colston’s buckwheat crepes filled with orange-glazed duck rocked.
Brooklyn Winery 2010 Old Vine Zinfandel (93% Zinfandel, 7% Petit Syrah)
Characteristic of Lodi Zinfandel, jammy red fruit notes and baking spice dominate the nose. While registering at a whopping 15.5% alcohol, the wine wasn’t “hot.” Well-paired with lamb tartare over eggplant (and a touch of garlic).
Brooklyn Winery 2010 North Fork Blend (81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc)
Call me sentimental, but I like to root for the underdog. This North Fork wine spent 20 months in a mix of oak (17% new French, 3% new American and 80% neutral oak). It’s a leaner, more rustic wine than its California counterparts, with a well-integrated combination of the pleasant “greenness” of cabernet franc with the properly-ripened fruit-forwardness of merlot. It suited the seasonally-appropriate chestnut chanterelle pomegranate soup.
As of 10 p.m. Thursday, the online race was neck-to-neck between the three wines, all of which retail for roughly $30. The wines will be released to the general public on October 25, and wine aficionados can cast yet another vote this season by visiting www.winerace.com.
The wines will be available at the winery itself (bkwinery.com, 213 N 8th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211) at local retailers including Uva and Natural Wine Co., and select restaurants including Dressler.
Wow, just what we needed, California styled NY wines,,,,oh wait they are California wines.
Stan: Though I wouldn’t put it quite like that — I share your frustration. I wish that places like Brooklyn Winery and City Winery focused entirely (or at least mostly) on wines made with New York-grown fruit.
I guess it could be a matter of simple economics. Probably doesn’t get much cheaper than frozen California grapes.
Lenn/Stan:
I don’t think it’s economics at all. First, I think they pay a premium for the California grapes – it’s usually hand-picked fresh fruit, sorted in small Champagne-style crates, flash-cooled then shipped in temperature-controlled trucks to Brooklyn. The stuff from North Fork and Finger Lakes is likely cheaper.
And the wines themselves aren’t cheap – $30 a pop, sometimes more. There’s a whole discussion to be had on the price/value ratio.
They seem to be significantly increasing the amount of local grapes sourced – I saw Seneca Cabernet Franc grapes waiting to be pressed, and they’re making their first-ever Gewürztraminer with FLX grapes. They have finished Chardonnay and Rieslings from New York being served in their tasting rooms. But I think the presence of CA grapes is the winemaker’s desire to make wines from both West and East coast (he hails from CA).
At $ 30 a bottle though?
Gotta assume that it’s not cheap to open a full-scale winery in Brooklyn. Gotta pay for it
This is not cool. 30 dollars for a wine made from frozen grapes grown in California. There are several great grape growing regions in New York State. I think you could get Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux and have them travel less miles.
Hi all. I can understand your frustrations, so I would like to clarify a few things. First of all, the frozen Cabernet was an experiment we did in 2010. The “good deal” I got on the fruit means I paid what a ton of red fruit costs from the North Fork, not the $7500 average price tag for Coombsville Cabernet. Still far from cheap. I was so happy with the results that I released it as it was, and was fully transparent with the story behind it. Is it unusual? Yes. Is it low quality cheap wine? No.
Second, 75% of the 90+ tons of fruit that i am getting this year is sourced from New York State. The reason I bring in fruit from other regions is because it either does not grow well in New York State, or I am unable to source it here. (as we do not own any vineyards)
Everything I do at Brooklyn Winery is focused on premium, hand crafted wines. There are no corners cut, and I source only the best fruit. Also, even though I bring in fruit from other regions, i seldom blend them because i want to see what New York State wines can do. If I do any blending of regions, I am fully transparent about this also. I welcome your comments and if you would like to contact me directly with any questions, please feel free to do so: conor@bkwinery.com
Thank you,
Conor McCormack