WTN: Pellegrini Vineyards 2003 EastEnd Select Merlot (North Fork of Long Island)
2003 wasn’t a great year for North Fork reds. I’ve written about it before, but basically there was a rainy period in October (after a good growing season) and two rounds of frost that resulted to many sub-par wines from that year. Particularly reds.
And Pellegrini Vineyards’ 2003 EastEnd Select Merlot ($15), which is normally a decent, gulpable seems to have fallen victim to that bad weather.
The nose is promising enough, offering straightforward black cherry aromas with a little earthiness and smoke. But the palate is disappointing and disjointed. Fairly light in body, there’s some cherries, dried leaves and even a little black pepper, but it’s watery and thin, with harsh, tart acidity on the finish.
Luckily, the other new and upcoming releases from Pellegrini Vineyards were much much better. You’ll read about those this week.
Grape(s): Merlot
Producer: Pellegrini Vineyards
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $24
Rating:
(1 out of 5 | Not Recommended)
Some LI wineries “declassified” all the wines from 2003, with the result being some excellent values. Vineyard blocks normally used for the reserve or “first” wines went into the lower priced bottlings; some research will really pay off when buying ’03 from LI.
Good point…but there is a lot of BAD 03 red wine out there too.
Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one disappointed with this bottling. I’ll take your word and reserve judgment until I can try a more recent vintage.