Long Island Tasting Trip

This past weekend, I got to take a tasting trip through the wineries on Long Island's North Fork. OK, the real reason I was there was because my wife was riding her bike in the 100-mile Montauk Century Ride, but what else was I going to do while she rode her bike for 7-8 hours?

I started the day on Saturday at Laurel Lake Vineyards mainly because I got up to the North Fork at around 10:30 AM, which was about 30 minutes before most wineries opened. Laurel Lake was the first winery that I came to that was open! However, the early bird does get the worm, because Laurel Lake was a gem. An interesting contrast because it is one of the oldest vineyards, but the winery had been started in 1999. A nice sized smaller winery that is an up and coming establishment. $4 to taste 4 wines. The winemaker's wife was manning the tasting bar--very nice and friendly and told me lots about the winery. Turned out she and her husband were from Chile (which was cool since I had just purchased some Chilean grapes this spring!). I tried the 2006 unoaked chardonnay (very nice and light) and then turned to the reds--2004 merlot (smooth), 2003 cab franc (spicy and peppery), and 2005 syrah (bold). All the reds were very good and I ended up purchasing the 2003 Cab Franc ($20) and 2004 Merlot ($18). This was the first time that I tried the sip and spit method of wine tasting since I was by myself and driving--a fairly good success with only 1 minor spill.

After Laurel Lake, I headed east to Pellegrini Vineyards. Again, another gem with a very nice tasting room staff. Larger place with 23,000 gal production. Although they had plenty of space for weddings and events, the tasting room had a nice and cozy feel. The girl I spoke with was young, but was very friendly and really knew the winery and the wines. She took the time to talk with me before I started tasting to get a feel for my wine tastes to make some recommendations on what to taste (nice touch). A little pricier with $4 for 3 tastes, but I managed to taste several of the reserve wines as well. Tasted a very nice rose made from cab fsauv grapes, along with a flight of very good merlots and a bourdeaux blend. Liked them so much I bought 3 wines--2007 East End Select Rose ($15), the 2001 Merlot ($20), and the 2004 Cabernet Franc ($20).

I finished my Saturday tasting at Macari Vineyards. Large family farm with 120 acres of grapes that sold grapes for years before opening the winery. Large tasting room, but I managed to score being served by the tasting room manager who was extremely friendly and told me a lot about the winery and the wines. Expensive to taste, though--$8 for 4 wines in a pre-selected wine flight. They had two main flights to choose from, but after I said that I really was looking to explore merlot, a special reserve red flight was brought out because they just happened to have a bottle of the expensive anchor wine open from the previous day. Overall--very good reds. I purchased a 2003 Merlot ($13) and their Sette--a blend of merlot, cab franc, malbec, and petite verdot ($15).

At that point I had to break away and go meet my wife at the bike ride end in Montauk. So glad I got to experience the wonderful summer traffic stall through the Hamptons. Nice place, but I sure wouldn't want to sit in that traffic again (coming and going)!

On Sunday, we had to drive through the North Fork again to get to the ferry, so I forced my wife to join me in tasting a few more wineries. We started at Bedell Cellars. Much fancier than any of the other places and expensive $8-12 for different flights of 4 wines. We tasted the $8 flight and sampled a chardonnay, a chardonnay/viogner blend, a rose, and a merlot. The tasting room staff was pleasant, but didn't talk with us a whole lot. Were more concerned about some smell coming from the wine fridge that I couldn't sense. My wife did like the 2007 First Crush White (chardonnay/viogner blend), so I bought a bottle for her ($18).

On the way east, we stopped in at Osprey's Dominion, which was a mistake. Cheaper tasting ($5/5 wines), but frankly not very good. Plus, the server refused to smile or engage us in conversation at all. So we drained the wine and left without purchasing anything.

Our last stop was at Corey Creek Vineyards, a sister winery of Bedell Cellars. In fact, we tasted a couple of the Bedell Wines that we did not taste at Bedell. A very good gewurztraminer and a wonderful unoaked chardonnay. They had a folk music guitar duo playing on their patio that overlooked the vineyard, so we purchased a couple glasses of wine and enjoyed the music and the view. Stayed so long, we missed our reserved ferry time and had to go on stand-by for the next one!

Overall I was impressed with the quality of the Long Island Wineries. I really enjoyed the merlots and cabernet francs that I tasted. I'm looking forward to writing reviews of the wines that I purchased!

Salute,
a Wine Student

Russell Orchards Winery Visit

My wife and I spent Memorial Day on Crane Beach. Gorgeous weather for a day at the beach--sunshine and hot! After getting our fill of surf and sand, we headed for home but made a quick stop at Russell Orchards to check out their fruit wines. From the size of the sign advertising their wine, I suspected that wine was not the primary focus of the place, and I was correct. If ice cream, baked goods, cold cider, or local produce is your object, Russell Orchards is the place. The tasting room, produce stand, ice cream counter, cider fridge, and bakery are all housed in their big old barn. It took a little bit of snooping around to locate the winetasting counter in the back corner of the barn. I was immediately turned off by tasting from small plastic cups instead of a normal glass (it's a pet peeve of mine). The tasting counter is also very small (less than 6 feet long). The poor gal behind it was trying to serve as many people as possible, but not physically possible to get more than 4-5 folks squeezed in.

Russell Orchards produces only fruit wines and cider and most everything that was open that day was sweet to some degree. Their Baldwin apple was pleasant--crisp, fruity, and the only dry wine available to taste. I was eager to try their blueberry (off dry), but couldn't get past the funky taste (like old leather soaked in medicine). Ditto for the black currant. I ended the tasting with their rhubarb wine--very interesting. Their rhubarb is completely colorless (looked like a bottle of vodka) and tastes only slightly of rhubarb. I'm guessing that they don't use much rhubarb in their recipe, but was surprised by the good body and mouthfeel of such a light version.

My recommendation--not a destination in and of itself, but a fun stop after a warm day at the beach. Go when it's less crowded for a more pleasant experience. Judging from the size of the parking lot, that may not be very common.

Salute,
a Wine Student.