It’s the first day of July and as we head into the holiday week (if only we had the whole week off of work, right?) it’s time once again to let you know what coming next for members of the New York Cork Club.
This month, I’ve chosen two unique wines that you’ve probably never heard about, let alone tasted.
First is the Macari Vineayrds 2005 Malbec ($22). Merlot gets most of the attention in these parts, but over the past couple of years a couple varietally bottled malbecs have really impressed me — both for their quality and their uniqueness. It’s a bold, flavorful wine and the ripeness of the 2005 vintage is obvious. It’s loaded with intense black plum and black pepper aromas.
The palate is rich and slightly meaty with more plum, pepper and a
slightly juicy note on the mid-palate. The finish lingers nicely with a
hint of spice. Sounds like a good pairing for a grilled porterhouse to me, and we were lucky to get this one. They didn’t make much and it’s only available in the tasting room.
Until this month, there haven’t been any wines from the Hudson Valley region that I thought made the grade for the NYCC. But, the second I tasted Millbrook Vineyards’ 2006 Tocai Friulano ($16) I knew that I’d finally found one. Tocai Friulano is a grape native to the Friuli region in north eastern
Italy. This vintage offers floral, melony aromas and hints of minerals and kiwi fruit. Clean,
medium bodied and well balanced, it’s a lovely white that shows just-ripe
honeydew melon and kiwi flavors with subtle acidity. Serve it with antipasto or as an aperitif.
I hope you enjoy the July selections, which should arrive at your door during the third week of the month. Cheers!