Posts Written OnOctober 17, 2005

Matt Campbell, co-owner of Charles John Vineyard along with his wife Jackie, can trace his love of wine back to when he and Jackie were living in Rochester, N.Y., in the early 1980s. “I knew nothing about wine. (But) we went to dinner and I ordered an ‘expensive’ glass of Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon for about $7 – to impress Jackie. I couldn’t believe how good it tasted.” For a man who grew up on the Jersey Shore “listening to Bruce Springsteen” and knowing beer “as the only alcoholic beverage that had four letters,” that glass of Cabernet was a…

Okay, it’s official. Martha Clara Vineyards (and its winemaker, Gilles Martin) have climbed up my ranking of Long Island vineyards. I don’t actually have a list from one to thirty-plus, of course, but what was once a winery highlighted by its high-profile events is really starting to win me over with what matters — the juice. Sure, they still make (and sell) a ton of their white zinfandel-esque rose (isn’t the beagle-adorned label cute?) and the Glacier’s End line of wines, but a look further down on the tasting sheet reveals wines with nice varietal character that are worth elbowing…