WTN: Channing Daughters Winery 2006 Blaufrankisch (The Hamptons)
Channing Daughters Winery, and its winemaker Chris Tracy, are known for doing things a little differently. Instead of talking Bordeaux, they talk about Northern Italy. Instead of focusing on merlot, white wines are the focus. And instead of growing (and making) mostly French varieties, they grow whatever grows best in their vineyards.
Sometimes the novelty of their wines is just a gateway. It gets people interested in their wines and then the wines deliver above and beyond their novelty.
But sometimes the wines don’t over-deliver. Sometimes they are just nice novelties. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I’ve long been a fan of Tracy’s Blaufrankisch, a
major grape in Austria and Hungary that goes by many aliases
depending on the region it’s growing in. In the U.S. (Washington State
makes some), usually goes by Lemberger. In Italy, it’s Franconia, which makes me wonder why they don’t use that name, given the Italian flavor at Channing Daughters. Channing
Daughters is the only Long Island winery to grow and produce
Blaufrankisch, and one of only two wineries in all of New York State
doing it.
Channing Daughters Winery’s 2006 Blaufrankisch ($25) is 86% Blaufrankisch and 14% merlot, and a little less interesting than previous vintages.
The nose is the most
intriguing aspect, offering lots of cherry
aromas, with plum, a faint gamey hint and earthy, smoky notes. On the
palate, however, it’s a bit more straightforward, with juicy cherry
flavors, a little plum, and just a little earthiness. Structure is brought more by acidity than tannin here.
It’s still worth checking out, but mostly for the novelty. I really miss the smoky gaminess on the palate that previous bottlings featured.
Grape(s): 86% Blaufrankisch, 14% merlot
Producer: Channing Daughters Winery
AVA: The Hamptons, Long Island
Price: $25
Rating: (2 out of 5 | Average)
If Blaufrankisch is the same as Lemberger, than I’m pretty sure that more than one winery in the state produces it as it’s talked about in the Finger Lakes quite a bit for it’s cool-weather potential…I’ll have to check up on that impression!
I know of one guy other than myself (with 2 vines planted, lol) in the Niagara Region that has planted some. In the Finger Lakes, Seneca Shore Winery makes a decent one, as well as Goose Watch, and Fox Run. Herman Wiemer’s nursery sells grafted vines of Lemberger as well. I’d love to try some Channing Daughters though, as I would assume it would have a bit more body to it.
Bryan, I put out an inquiry myself to someone who frequents a lot of Finger Lakes wineries, but your recent observations confirm my suspicion that Lemberger is being produced at several wineries. Heck, if I remember tasting it at some point, and others refer to it, it can’t be all made at a single winery!
I’m sure Channing was given a mistaken impression. It’s sure easy to lose track of certain varietals with 100+ wineries in the Finger Lakes and a couple dozen more spread throughout the rest of upstate.
The Finger Lakes Weekend Wino (check out his blog at http://fingerlakesweekendwino.blogspot.com) just checked his notes for me and is 100% sure that Lemberger is being produced at Fulkerson, Fox Run, Goose Watch, Hosmer, Seneca Shore, and Anthony Road. He does not know how many of these wineries grow their own Lemberger.