Posts Tagged“merlot”

Martha Clara Vineyards 2013 Estate Reserve Merlot

It can be easy to dismiss Martha Clara Vineyards as a producer of fine wine. I mean, it’s the winery with the animals, the weddings and the concerts, right? Yes. It has all of those. Wine isn’t necessarily at the center of everything at Martha Clara. There is a wide swath of people that visits the winery every year and winemaker Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez has built a portfolio clearly meant to appeal to that diverse audience. But let’s not forget, there are plenty of fine wine lovers who visit Martha Clara too and to those folks, I would recommend Martha Clara Vineyards’…

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From the Archives: Local with Local: Raphael 2002 First Label Merlot and David Page’s Ducq au Vin

Editor’s Note: Every Thursday — call it Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. This week’s pull from the archives is one of my favorite “Local with Local” posts we published — a series where local chefs and wine folks created a wine pairing. This pairing and recipe were offered by David Page, co-owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards and a former chef. Reading through this post again, has me thinking about bringing this series back.   My wife Barbara and I first met Richard Olsen-Harbich, currently the…

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Uncork the Forks: Making the Case for Merlot

Long Island merlot has and always will have a place in my cellar and in my glass. I drink it a few times a week, usually with dinner. It’s dependable and consistently good — even in all but the most horrid of vintages. For many, that’s the point. That’s why so much of it is planted in the ground and why several producers have hung their hats on a grape that isn’t very sexy these days. One local writer has gone so far as to say, “Merlots are now considered the highest expression of the Long Island appellation.” I’m not…

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EVENT ADVERTISEMENT: Merlot Rewind — The Long Island Wine Remix

Please join the Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA) on Friday, November 6, 2015 at Back Label Wine Merchants for the first annual MERLOT REWIND! Why rewind? Because it’s come to our attention that maybe some of you don’t know Long Island merlot the way you should. Which is just crazy. Sure, we grow more merlot here (to the tune of nearly 700 acres) than any other grape in the region, but there’s good reason for that: Our maritime climate produces consistently lovely versions of this noble red grape — concentrated yet bright, mouth filling and layered yet versatile at the table. And that’s…

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Wolffer Estate 2012 “Christian’s Cuvee” Merlot

Sometimes, I just don’t want to talk about how much a wine costs. With Long Island wines already seen as over-priced by many and the ever-rising prices of Finger Lakes wines, it’s a topic that I cover enough already. I can’t tell you if Wolffer Estate 2012 Christian’s Cuvee Merlot ($100) is worth that $100 price tag or not. That’s really between you and your bank account. What I can tell you that I’ve bought it before — though admittedly not often — and that I’ve had the pleasure of drinking these wines back to the 2000 vintage and these…

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With Lacey Magruder Winery, the Hundertmarks Live Their Dreams

Jim Hundertmark is a man who is living his dream. Most mornings he leaves his modest farmhouse home and walks a few dozen steps across his property to work. For Hundertmark, his workplace is the small, “boutique” winery on the west side of Seneca Lake that he owns and operates with his wife Ruth. Their winery, Lacey Magruder Winery, bears the name of the paternal grandmothers from each of their families. The couple’s path to the Finger Lakes began in their hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Like many who live in the DMV area surrounding the nation’s capital, Mrs. Hundertmark built…

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McCall Wines 2014 “Marjorie’s” Rose

For several vintages now, McCall Wines’ rose has been a favorite in the Thompson household. It was also made with pinot noir. With the 2013 vintage, McCall added a second rose, adding a merlot-based wine to the lineup. In 2014, the winery’s entire rose production was merlot (I with a small addition of sauvignon blanc). “The pinot noir was a saignee. We wanted greater concentration in our red pinot noir without over-handling the wine. 2014 was such a stellar vintage that we didn’t need to do saignee. We would rather make the full amount of good-vintage pinot noir,” said Brewster McCall.…

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Harbes Vineyard 2014 Dry Rose

I’ve been tasting a lot of Long Island rose over the past few weeks — both because it’s the season and because I was researching a story that will be published in the Long Island Wine Press next month. Like any category, Long Island rose is always a mixed bag. There are wines that you know will always be good, regardless of vintage. There are wines you always want to be good, but underwhelm. And then there are the wines that surprise you — either in a good or bad way. Harbes Vineyard 2014 Dry Rose ($18) was a pleasant surprise…

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Long Island Merlot Alliance Names Amy Zavatto as Executive Director

Press releases are not something we usually get too exited about at the NYCR desk, but in this case we are very pleased to to share the news that our own contributor, the very talented Amy Zavatto, will be taking the helm of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. As an eastern Long Island native, Amy is returning to her roots both literally and figuratively. We look forward to seeing her great energy and fine word-smithy directed at promoting wines that are a signatures for Long Island wine country.   LONG ISLAND MERLOT ALLIANCE KICKS OFF 10th ANNIVERSARY AND WELCOMES ITS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,…

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Medolla Vineyards 2004 Merlot

It’s rare that one can go buy a fully mature Long Island wine right off the shelf, but Medolla Vineyards offers that opportunity with the current release Medolla Vineyards 2004 Merlot ($19). Yes. 2004. Current. Release. The Medolla wines are made at Lenz Winery under the watchful eye of Lenz winemaker Eric Fry. The 2002 was one of the most underrated merlots on the North Fork when it was released and the 2007 was a killer value a few years ago when it hit shelves. The 2004 — no doubt given extra time in bottle to even out some of the rustic…

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