I went to a fascinating wine tasting yesterday at the nearby New York Wine and Culinary Center. The wines were all Long Island merlots. I wasn’t expecting to like them all that much because (a) I don’t like New World merlot much in general and (b) I don’t like Long Island (a few Billy Joel songs notwithstanding). So I was surprised that…I loved the wines! They don’t taste like other New World merlot at all — to me, they tasted liked Bordeaux only much more herbal, a bit more acidic, and a bit less fruity and tannic. The wines were from the wineries that form the Merliance: seven wineries on Long Island that make merlot as their flagship wines. These are Wolffer, Clovis Point, Pellegrini, Raphael, Sherwood House, Castello di Borghese, and McCall.
Having never had these wines before, I wasn’t able to get a great sense of the differences between the different estates: vintage variation was more striking. The 2007 vintage was fantastic, the 2004, 2005, and 2006 vintages more variable (2005 has the best reputation, 2006 the worst, but I actually like 2006 the best of the three within this limited sample size). The vineyards are primarily in the North Fork of Long Island, though Wolffer is on the South Fork.
These wines, in general, are lower in alcohol than California bordeaux blends and also more food-friendly. They also have a fascinating spice/herbal quality that I’m embarrassed to describe for fear of sounding too much like Paul Giamatti, so I’ll just quote Appellation America (by subscription only, unfortunately):
“Heady violets, rich plum, huckleberry and Darjeeling tea aromas are accented by complex and exotic aromas of lemongrass, cilantro, ginseng, bay, Seville orange, and white pepper, which develop an amazing bouquet of cedar, sandalwood, and tobacco with age.” A bit much, ya think? Yet this complexity itself is the common thread of the region.
These wines aren’t cheap — most have suggested retail between $20 and $30, though I find them a bit cheaper at my local shop. But I think the 2007s, as good as they were, are an excellent deal. For purposes of comparison, I tasted a lot of red wines in Oregon last weekend and the only reds I liked better than the 2007 McCall and Wolffer were much pricier.
This tasting was a real revelation, one of the most surprising I’ve ever been to.
chrome agnomen
and i am not a crook!
jeffreyw
Last time I drank Ripple I didn’t like it. Must have been a bad year as I have a distinct memory of liking it in 1969.
Xanthippas
Have we had any wine blogging since Tim F was on his resveratrol kick?
DougJ
Last time I drank Ripple I didn’t like it
It rained heavily during last year’s Ripple harvest. That could be the problem.
RoryBellows
I spend alot of time on the North Fork. Try Lenz merlot if you get a chance. My favorite sub $20. Peconic Bay Vineyards and Shinn are my other favorites, also.
licensed to kill time
__
That’s yer Ripple problem, right there.
DonkeyKong
Have you tried the Buttafuoco? I’ll quote Appellation Forgitaboutit (watayoulookinat unfortunately)
“81 Chevy lug nuts, cheetos, and a bouquet of 3 day old teenage underpants”
New Yorker
Elitist. Drink Coors Light with Sarah Palin like a real ‘murkan.
cleek
on one hand, i don’t like that i can’t get any NY wines here in NC. on the other hand, i often find myself complaining when i discover that a regional specialty has become a national brand, thus further homogenizing the country. what’s the point in traveling, if the only difference between here and there is the shape of the state road signs ?
and speaking of Sideways and cross promotion… (from a local supermarket’s wine rack – a few years back)
r€nato
@DonkeyKong: FTW
r€nato
When real Merkins are forced to consume wine… it comes in a box and is consumed from a plastic cup.
Just the way Jesus did.
The Grand Panjandrum
Generally, I don’t care for New World Merlot because it has no finish. Not having anything at the end really is a disappointment for me. Do these LI merlots have anything that lingers and finishes well?
tomvox1
IMO, L.I. Merlots like Osprey’s Dominion and Lenz are some of the few red wines that go great with holiday meals like turkey, stuffing, etc. Always my favorites to bring at Thanksgiving & Christmas (for the holiday whites, I usually go Reisling & Gewurtz, FWIW).
And you’re dead right, Doug: they don’t taste anything like California Merlots, which are generally dreadful.
Little Dreamer
Doug, when I lived in Northern Jersey (Passaic county) as a child, they took me to one of those New York wineries, I got to taste the wine too, and I was only about 7 years old. ;)
Little Dreamer
Whoops, they = my parental units.
Wiesman
Paul Giamatti deserved an Oscar nomination for that role.
Jim C
Do they still make/sell Ripple?
I’ve never seen it for sale in my 20-odd years of drinking life – I have to settle for Boone’s Farm or TJ Swann.
DougJ
I got to taste the wine too, and I was only about 7 years old. ;)
It’s never too early to start, age-wise of time-of-day-wise.
inkadu
How does local wine fit into the local food movement? I know people are used to paying slightly more or less for local food, but 20 bucks a bottle sounds close to what I’d pay for a bottle shipped from halfway around the world from a larger, more consistent vineyard… Alas, wine is really sensitive to climate… so maybe beer and sour mash will win out in the local food debate.
@r€nato: Leave me alone! I drink enough wine to finish a bottle before it goes bad! And I have no help. I like reds, and my girlfriend likes white wine with ice cubes. Cut me some slack! But ditto on the plastic cups. I hate those. And hotdogs. Unless they’re Hummels. Budweiser, also.
The Grand Panjandrum
OT: Did Sarah Palin’s dad drop a dime on his daughter and let slip that she might be a racist?
Our liberal media should investigate and pin her down on this bit of information.
inkadu
@Wiesman:
Good thing you weren’t around during last night’s “Sideways Open Thread Hate.”
inkadu
@The Grand Panjandrum: Was that a meta-question? That Sarah Palin might be racist so unsurprising I can’t hardly imagine wasting neurons considering it. However, the Palin’s quote about Sarah the Younger is full of win:
DougJ
How does local wine fit into the local food movement? I know people are used to paying slightly more or less for local food, but 20 bucks a bottle sounds close to what I’d pay for a bottle shipped from halfway around the world from a larger, more consistent vineyard…
Good question. I will tell you my take: that you can become an expert on local wines and therefore find better — or at least more distinctive ones — than you can get from halfway around the world.
I mostly drink cheap Spanish wine, which is great stuff. But, more and more, when I want something special, I think locally (instead of France or CA).
Ella in NM
It’s bad enough to be a camera snob, but a wine snob, too?
Ella in NM
Ooops-my bad. Wrong blogger.
Whined and Dined
You might be interested in bringing your palate to the Finger Lakes region. In the last 15 years or so, some world-class vintners have produced great wines in the micro-climate along the banks of the lakes. Riesling — especially off-dry Rieslings — are amazing. Weirdly, you can only find a few of the labels in NYC shops (and very few in restaurants). Dr Frank’s is the most popular; some smaller wineries — Silver Thread, Ravines, inter alia — are right up there in quality.
Finger Lakes: It ain’t just Manichewitz!
JK
@inkadu:
Sideways fucking rules
inkadu
@DougJ:
I don’t know much about wine, except when to stop drinking it. But maybe you can explain this local wine thing to me. When I travel to vinyards abroad, they rave about the importance of micro-climate. So if people are raving about how great the wine is because of a particular warm, arid climate with nights at JUST this temperature and a mountain altitude that allows JUST this amount of moisture at noontime… how are cold mostly wet places supposed to compete? And if non-traditional climates can grow great wine, why do the traditional wine climate wines get all the buzz? Why is there no great Massachussetts Concord?
Church Lady
Elitest wine snob!
Little Dreamer
@Jim C:
Easy Nights? Mellow Days?
JK
@The Grand Panjandrum:
During the campaign, I recall reading somewhere that Palin allegedly used derogatory racial slurs when referring to African Americans.
Rest assured that the “liberal” media has no attention whatsoever of pinning Palin down on anything because she sends a thrill up their collective leg.
Jim C
@Little Dreamer:
Both.
Little Dreamer
@Jim C:
I was an Easy Nights girl myself. ;)
DougJ
So if people are raving about how great the wine is because of a particular warm, arid climate with nights at JUST this temperature and a mountain altitude that allows JUST this amount of moisture at noontime… how are cold mostly wet places supposed to compete? And if non-traditional climates can grow great wine, why do the traditional wine climate wines get all the buzz? Why is there no great Massachussetts Concord?
Here’s the short answer: warm, dry places like CA make consistently good, fruit-forward wines. But they’re awfully high in alcohol and they’re a bit cookie cutter. So, in some ways, for really interesting stuff, you’ve got a better chance with some crazy microclimate. That said, there are hardly any in colder, wetter regions that can make good wine! But there are some.
Little Dreamer
@DougJ:
You sound like an expert. ;)
Corner Stone
@inkadu: Especially since Sideways just wasn’t that great a movie.
Corner Stone
@r€nato:
I’m calling BS. Who needs a cup? Usually you have a guy walkin round with the box on his shoulder, and people taking pulls off the spigot.
*That’s* Real Merka ™
AngusTheGodOfMeat
Okay, true wine story.
I worked at the liquor counter of a large retail chain, years ago. Each morning, at about 10:30 am, a gentleman would come in, and peruse the cheap wine section. Spent a good five minutes looking it over carefully.
Then, he would select the small bottle of Ripple, which carried a price of about $0.35 in those days. He would bring that up to the counter, and wait until I rang up the sale. With tax, about $0.37.
“Thirty seven cents, please” I’d say. He’d cock his head. “How much?”
“Thirty seven cents, sir.”
Then he would open his hand, and there would be a quarter, a dime, and two pennies. He would place these coins on the counter, I’d bag his purchase, and off he would go. Every.Day. The same exact routine.
JK
@AngusTheGodOfMeat:
Do you belong to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association?
licensed to kill time
@AngusTheGodOfMeat:
He was probably looking for the $0.34 wine, poor fella.
cleek
Kosher wines are often made with Concord grapes.
inkadu
@DougJ: Having spent hours driving through grape fields in Chile, I can definitely understand that things might get “cookie cutter.” The market rewards consistency more than it does greatness. Damn. I wish I liked wine more. It seems so interesting.
@Corner Stone: Yeah, I know Sidways wasn’t a great movie… but people only hate it because of all the people running around saying it was… Its how I feel about Dances with Wolves. I thought it was a bad movie, but it only became a terrible movie when everyone told me how wrong I was.
AngusTheGodOfMeat
@JK:
I’m a meat animal. Those people you mention are out to destroy my family, and then braise them.
inkadu
@cleek: “When it absolutely has to be made with grapes: Concord.”
But even the Concord grape can’t find sanctuary in kosher wines. Even there, it is being replaced by it smaller, drier brethren. From Wikipedia:
I have seen the best grapes of my generation fermenting on the vine.
JK
@inkadu:
Name a single movie from the past 25 years that was more overrated or ridiculously overpraised than Lost in Translation. Sideways was great however.
Corner Stone
@inkadu:
I don’t hate it, I’ll just never watch it again, nor any part of it.
I’m not an auto contrarian because it pays the bills. I just didn’t like it.
I love Paul G. Dude’s incredible in small doses. Can flesh out any movie and make it better, at least from what I’ve seen. You’ve got some side story you need to sell? Need the audience to give two shits about it, or be distracted enough to not fail on some other plot hole? Paul G is the freaking man.
I just don’t need to see him and THC mug through a mediocre script, and I sure as hell do not need the casting agent to tell me that Virginia Madsen is going to give him two looks in any known universe.
Corner Stone
@AngusTheGodOfMeat: BTW, congrats to your aunt/niece, etc. Made Angus ground beef nachos the other night…*mwah!*
Compliments.
Little Dreamer
@AngusTheGodOfMeat:
That’s almost as bad as me going to work for a liquor department of a famous chain store and having my mother be my most regular customer.
DougJ
I like Sideways, but I can see why other people don’t.
I’m a wine geek who used to go tasting with a Hollywood ladies man wannabe. It’s damned hard for me not to enjoy the movie.
I agree Paul G. takes it a little bit too far.
inkadu
@JK: Lost in Translation was a movie? I thought it was a slide show with a soundtrack.
@Corner Stone: What did you make of HBO’s John Adams? Paul Giamatti wore out his welcome with me by the fourth hour; though the writing clearly sucked.
Corner Stone
@inkadu:
Now *that* is a good damn question.
I have to admit – I couldn’t finish it.
ETA – Edit! HAHAHAHAHA….EDIT!! Edit, I love you like you were a shapeshifitng alien and we could role play every night! That’s how much I love you Edit! Please, please never leave me again!!
Whatever I’ve done in the past, please forgive me! Edit, please stay with me this time. I’m a broken man without you.
HAHAHAHA! Edited Twice!!
inkadu
@Corner Stone: That is exactly why there is a five-minute limit on edits.
Corner Stone
@inkadu: I would’ve went for three but she couldn’t take it.
MBSS
i know what you’re saying, dougj, about california wines. many of the bottles are hitting 13% or more. it’s too much, and makes it hard to pair with food.
MBSS
a new edit function?
Xboxershorts
Can you recommend one that comes in a box?
DougJ
i know what you’re saying, dougj, about california wines. many of the bottles are hitting 13% or more.
13%? Try 15%.
MBSS
@DougJ:
yeah, it’s over the top. for food i’d prefer under 13%. more like a 12% french table wine.
wag
Best American red (and for that matter, white) table wines are, bar none, are from Randal Graham and Bonny Doon. His Big House Red, retail about $8.99 (can be found for $7.99 on sale) is the most screaming deal on a red table wine anywhere. Pacific Rim Reisling, same price point, again, consistent and tasty. You like Rose-Big House Pink or le cigar gris. His higher end wines are risk taker, and I love Le Cigar Volant, his hommage to Chateau Neuf de Pape.
Check it out. Worth the trip.
Darkrose
I’m a white wine drinker, and I’m finding that Oregon and Washington wineries have some cool stuff, especially with Rieslings.
Randy P
So what do you wine aficionados suggest I do with this Russian champagne my brother left me with? He’s a russo-phile and brought it for thanksgiving. My wife doesn’t drink alcohol and while I like the occasional wine, it would take me a month to finish this at my normal consumption rate.
Do I have to keep it in the refrigerator while I’m deciding?
MBSS
@wag:
bonny doon wines are good. they have some good desert wines too, but talk about concentrated and sweet. i dont really like ports and desert wines usually, but bonny doon’s are the best.
MBSS
@Darkrose:
for oregon there are a bunch of good pinot noirs around the Willamette Valley.
Yutsano
C’est ne pas un merlot.
Oh sorry what were we talking about?
MBSS
@Darkrose:
i don’t really like whites, but since the pinots are good in oregon then there must be a bunch of good chards, too.
celiadexter
We were turned on to Long Island wines by Jeff Morgan, who used to work at a North Fork winery about 20 years ago and now has his own shop in California making Covenant and SoloRosa (definitely worth checking out). Not only are the Merlots and Cabernets great, but surprisingly, the Cab Francs from the Guyland are probably the best in the US. In the ’90s, the best Merlot was probably Lenz, but there have been many changes and new wineries that I haven’t kept up with — have only had two of the wines you tasted, Wolffer and Pellegrini, both excellent. For what it’s worth, I was at a party at Gracie Mansion a few years ago and the only wine Bloomberg served was Wolffer — good taste and locavoric(?) too. All the wines you tasted are probably available at a store in NYC called Vintage, on Broadway near 92nd, that sells only NY wines — I will definitely look for the new ones you mentioned.
hjmler
over here on the Northcoast of the Middle Border we go hard for Concord recipe wild grape winter editions, but this year’s beet crop was unusually potent, especially after a second double fermentation with an extra 5# bag of sugar in each 5 gallon earthenware crock… of course that weeks an extra 3 weeks before it’s drinkable but gettin’ it to 45 proof is worth it
Smedley
@DougJ:
I fear that MD 20-20 will suffer as well this year as the Western NY summer has been exceedingly wet. The Sept. dry spell may bring some recovery but we’ll have to wait for the vintage to hit the shelves to see. There has been no Nouveau Mad Dog this year….
Corner Stone
@Smedley:
NOOOOOOO!! OOOOOOO!!
Smedley
@r€nato:
I prefer a foam cup. it just holds the color so much better after you’ve drunk it dry.
You can appreciate the variations; the robust red around the rim softened by the hint of mauve in the legs reaching down the side to the dark earthy tones at the bottom…ooops, thats the left over coffee. I do think it’s tacky to use a cup imprinted with the logo of the local diner. If it must have a logo let it me a nationally known one to complement the class of the wine
Smedley
@Wiesman:
Agree…
Smedley
@Jim C: Please do not overlook one of Western New York’s finest plonks MD 20-20.
Carefully crafted on the Shores of Lake Erie of what ever is leftover it yields notes of sumac, wild onion, old sweat sock.
A full balanced wine that fills the palate with fruit of the choke cherry yielding to a blessedly short finish of battery acid. A wine that failed the kosher test of it’s lineage it is released as necessary by the local outflow. A wine clearly blended to quench the thirst of the maddest dog.
Parking lot spectator rated : 37.8453+
Smedley
@Little Dreamer:
And what is you recollection of nose, tasting notes and finish.
Smedley
@inkadu:
I am blessed to live in WNY surrounded by 15 or so local wineries. I am doubly blessed because there is the adventure of discovering the newly vinted blends as well as tasting well established wines. The wines range from abominable to superb and each winery puts its own character into the wine so a Chancellor will taste delightfully different at wineries just a few miles apart. Having had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and of course to the west coast I have really come to appreciate local wines (NB: Heritage Winery in Missouri has a beautiful Sauvigon Blanc; the discovery a result of an accidental turn off the Interstate.)
My biggest complaint is that US restaurants do not offer local wines on the menu. I will always try one glass at least of the local offering. Almost always surprising; oft times in a good way…
Sorry for the ramble. But, I do suggest that as we cris cross the country that a stop for the local will be well rewarded and where one is not offered, ask “why not.”
Good Night Mrs Calabash, where ever you are.
Forty2
There’s no point in buying Lawnguyland wines when there’s far better ones at lower prices. LI does well with some whites (as do the Finger Lakes area) but no way would I buy a NY red at any price. It’s like asking for an oral rinse of tannin and herb squeezings. Blech.
Smedley
@DougJ:
Doug,
I agree. We generally bring a local wine to dinner parties or other events. I am leaving shortly for Mexico for the winter (it’s getting white out there) and am taking a case of the local stuff for gifting. BTW, my two oldest sons live in California and when visiting here, always tour our wineries shipping back a few samples of our wine. Number two son is a restaurant manager so has access to some of CA’s best.
Smedley
@Ella in NM:
Hey Ella,
Try D.H. Luscombes New Mexico Port.
Very nice, rich with out being overpowering.
New Mexico Wineries, Deming, NM
1-877-NMWINES
Found on a road trip back to New York from Mexico…
Scott
Smedley
@AngusTheGodOfMeat:
Clearly a connoisseur of low end wines. Another fine brown bag vintage is Thunderbird; secretly made by the Gallo boys…
An oft heard refrain where I grew up:
“”What’s the word? / Thunderbird / How’s it sold? / Good and cold / What’s the jive? / Bird’s alive / What’s the price? / Thirty twice.”
For an informative look at REALLY affordable wines I commend bumwine.com to you.
Probably more than you’d ever want to know about seriously LOW end wines.
Cheers
Smedley
@inkadu:
I think Sideways got a bad rap in one way because it punctured a lot of popular notions about wine…. Merlot sales dropped substantially as Pinot Noir sales rose. Other than that it was just kinda quirky. A chick flick for guys…
BDeevDad
Just watched Bottle Shock on cable last night and enjoyed it. Alan Rickman film’s rule! Have not seen Sideways yet.
AngusTheGodOfMeat
@Little Dreamer:
To say nothing of my mother. My mother was banned at Safeway …. for yelling at the employees when they raised the price of her wine.
DougJ
Do I have to keep it in the refrigerator while I’m deciding?
It shouldn’t matter too much, unless you keep your house really hot.
Jerome McDonough
There are also some great Cabernet Francs out of Long Island. It usually doesn’t do well as the main varietal in a blend, but the Long Island wineries seem to do quite well with it. And if you haven’t tried anything from Macari Vineyards out there, you might want to. They did an unfiltered chardonnay for awhile that was one of the best chardonnays I’ve had in this country, with none of the Death-By-Oak syndrome that most American chardonnays tend to suffer.
Icewaterchrist
@MBSS:
More Pinot Gris and Riesling than Chardonnay in Oregon.
sparky
on a slightly different note–the best thing about North Fork wines is that they saved the Fork (well, ok, maybe Southold) from development. the agricultural land now produces enough value (wine + truck farms) to keep what’s left of it from being subdivided.