Posts Tagged“shinn estate vineyards”

Long Island Vineyards Could See Early Bud Break in 2012

The earliest anyone can remember seeing bud break in Long Island vineyards was mid-April in 2010 — a vintage that ended up being one of the longest and warmest on record. Bud break in 2010 was about two weeks earlier than average. But, after a mild winter and with temperatures currently in the upper-50s and 60s this week — Long Island vineyards coudl see bud break even earlier in 2012. “The potential for an early budbreak this year appears higher than normal. If the weather continues to trend the way it has over the winter season it is increasingly likely that an early…

Continue Reading

Talking Turkey (Wines) with the New York Wine Community

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Just like last year (and the year before that) here at the New York Cork Report we have decided to abstain from telling you what the 'perfect' wine is for Thanksgiving. Many wine writers are more than happy to offer their opinions, but to us, it's an exercise in futility. There are too many flavors and textures on a typical Thanksgiving table for any single wine to elevate any of them without getting in the way of others. Instead of offering a dish-by-dish and wine-by-wine outline for your holiday meal, we have asked our friends…

Continue Reading

Readers Write: Introducing My Midwestern Parents to the North Fork of Long Island

By Tracy Weiss (@northforkd) Last weekend, I attempted to show my persnickety midwestern parents the glory that is the North Fork of Long Island. But given their track record, I was a little nervous. They find fault in every place they visit: New York City is busy, overpriced and filthy with too many people. (Exactly why other people love it!) Chicago is too windy. (Hence the nickname?) Florida, the whole state, is humid and everyone drives too slowly. (I’m with them on this one.) As far as I am concerned, the North Fork is perfection. My first visit left me…

Continue Reading

Shinn Estate Vineyards 2008 Wild Boar Doe

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor The name of Shinn Estate Vineyards 2008 Wild Boar Doe ($30) serves two purposes. It is at once a playful homage to the Bordeaux-style blend and also a food pairing tip — because lean wild pork or venison would work beautifully with this wine. A blend of 40% merlot, 23% cabernet sauvignon, 17% malbec, 15% petit verdot, and 5% cabernet franc, this medium-weight red shows complex aromas of licorice, white pepper, leaf tobacco and exotic spice interwoven with ripe blueberries and black currants. Intense black-and-blue fruit highlights a somewhat rustic palate, along with an array…

Continue Reading

Shinn Estate Vineyards 2008 Estate Merlot

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor What helps differentiate the best wineries from the rest in a region? The wines they produce in cooler and/or less-ideal growing seasons. By that definition, Shinn Estate Vineyards is no doubt one of the North Fork's top wineries. Some of my favorite Shinn wines have come from the 2004 and 2006 vintages, which no one considers stellar. Add this Shinn Estate Vineyards 2008 Estate Merlot ($25) to the list of impressive wines from not-so-hot years. Showing what I consider to be classic Long Island merlot qualities, the nose shows good fruit ripeness — mostly black…

Continue Reading

Long Island Wineries Announce Closings, Prepare for Hurricane Irene

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor With Hurricane Irene expected to approach and move across Long Island late Saturday night into Sunday, local wineries are preparing as best they can, and some are announcing closings ahead of the storm. Peconic Bay Winery is open today, but has already decided to close for the weekend. According to General Manager Jim Silver "We may have had stragglers and customers with the bravado to ignore a huge storm to taste wine, the potential business wasn't worth the time we needed to batten down the hatches and prepare the whole of the property for the…

Continue Reading

Anthony Nappa Leaves Shinn Estate Vineyards; Replaced by Patrick Caserta

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Anthony Nappa, who served as winemaker at Shinn Estate Vineyards for four years, resigned on Monday. He will continue to make wine under his own label, Anthony Nappa Wines, and hope to open The Winemaker Studio with his fiancee Sara Evans over the next week or two. Nappa also told me in an email this morning that he is looking for another winemaking job on the East End. Nappa will be replaced by Patrick Caserta, who was announced as the winery's new production winemaker in co-owner David Page's weekly email newsletter today. Caserta will be…

Continue Reading

The New York Cork Report Tasting Table — June 21, 2011

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor These are tasting notes for some wines that have graced the NYCR tasting table recently but won't be reviewed in standalone posts. Lucas Vineyards 2009 Dry Riesling ($14): Intense fennel frond aromas are backed by grapefruit, lime and green apple notes. Dry with fresh, citrus-juicy acidity. Lime and fennel flavors dominate with just a little gunflint-smoke. Really nice value. Rating: 85 Lucas Vineyards 2009 Reserve Riesling ($22): A bit lean on the nose in terms of fruit, with fennel and slate leading the way with some lime peel in the background. Drier style with lime,…

Continue Reading

Shinn Estate Vineyard 2010 Rose

  By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor Long Island rose is a beautiful thing.. beautiful in its insane diversity. From sweet to dry and every residual sugar level in between the East End of Long Island has you covered. But the diversity doesn't stop there. Just about any red wine variety grown here ends up as rose, including the usual suspects like merlot, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir as well as grapes like refosco and cabernet franc. Blending is common and not reserved for red grapes. Some of the region's best-loved roses are blends of red varieties with large percentages of…

Continue Reading

Shinn Estate Vineyard 2010 First Fruit Sauvignon Blanc

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor  With its wind turbine and in-progress biodynamic and organic certification, Shinn Estate Vineyards gets plenty of well-deserved attention for its sustainable and community-friendly practices. What sometimes gets lost in all that green is just how good the wines can be. There is no doubt that sauvignon blanc thrives on the North Fork, with an emerging regional signature developing over time. When anyone asks me to list the most consistent local sauvignon blanc producers, inevitably Shinn Estate is on the short list. Shinn Estate Vineyards 2010 First Fruit Sauvignon Blanc ($23) is brightly aromatic, delivering bright…

Continue Reading