NYCR-transparent1

Posts Written OnJanuary 16, 2007

Meet Mickey Mouse. Drink New York Wines.

swan_dolphin

I just got an email telling me that Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort’s Blue Zoo restaurant will soon be pouring six, count em six, New York wines. So, now you can take your kids to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse…and then enjoy some some delectable Finger Lakes and Long Island wines with dinner. The wines chosen by Blue Zoo’s team are: Atwater Estate Cabernet Franc Heron Hill Ingle Vineyard Riesling Heron Hill Semi-Dry Riesling Sheldrake Point Riesling (my review) Raphael La Fontana Wolffer Estate Selection Chardonnay I’ve had all of these wines with the exception of Atwater’s cab…

Continue Reading

WTN: Pellegrini Vineyards 2001 Merlot (North Fork)

pellegrini_2001merlot

With the recent 2006 vintage, Pellegrini Vineyards in Cutchogue celebrated its 15th year. Australian-born winemaker Russell Hearn is known for making flavorful wines that tend to be good values in a local industry that is too often plagued by over-priced, under-delivering wines. True to his Australian pedigree, Hearn applies some of Long Island’s most cutting-edge techniques, but he doesn’t try to make Aussie-style wines — thankfully. North Fork grapes just don’t get ripe enough for those big, jammy, fruit bomb styles. Pellegrini Vineyards also makes enough wine every year that they don’t need to rush their wines to the store…

Continue Reading

WTN: Bedell Cellars 2003 Merlot (North Fork)

bedell_03merlot

Red wines from the 2003 vintage — even those made with the region’s signature variety, merlot — have proved inconsistent in my tastings. Some wines, from some vineyards are delicious — elegant and classic Long Island. Others tend to be light on flavor and even a little ‘green’ in their under-ripeness. Some wineries didn’t even bother making first label or reserve wines in 2003, declassifying the vintage. So what caused this inconsistent vintage? Poorly timed rain and October frosts — two of them actually. Rain, obviously, can dilute flavors and frost kills the canopy. Without the engine to drive the…

Continue Reading

WTN: Channing Daughters Winery 2004 L’Enfant Sauvage Chardonnay (The Hamptons)

lenfant_sauvage_chardonnay

You’ve heard me say over and over that Long Island is a cool-climate wine region. That’s nothing new. But the South Fork, also known as the Hamptons, is actually even cooler, with a growing season that is typically ten or so days shorter. Some have said that this makes it  better suited to white wines than red. I’ll open that can of worms another time, but there are some stellar whites made on the South Fork.Channing Daughters Winery, one of three wineries in the Hamptons region is doing some of the most exciting things with white wine on the entire…

Continue Reading