Our Long Island Winery Trip

After a week of reflection (read: laziness) I’m finally recapping the Long Island winery jaunt that I took with a couple of my longtime girlfriends. With the gracious help of Lenn Thompson and Susan Kostrzewa we took a two-day tour of some of the North Fork’s gems including: Paumanok, Bedell Cellars, Peconic Bay Winery, Lieb Cellars, Macari Vineyards, and The Tasting Room. As with any tasting trip, the roster of wines contained clunkers and wowers but overall I was impressed by the wines, the beauty of the region and the kind people that we met. We had engaging conversations everywhere about anything from the joy of screw caps to bluntly honest recommendations (and dissuasions).

Some highlights:

• Kareem at Paumanok whose family owns the winery was a joy to chat with. Their crisp, unoaked Festival Chardonnay reminded me that I do like unoaked Chards. I purchased a bottle and enjoyed it at the Philharmonic in the park last week (while procrastinating on this post). My friends Julia and Ali really liked their Chenin Blanc as well. I believe Paumanok is the only winery to make a Chenin Blanc in the North Fork. It was a nice example.

• The folks at Bedell Cellars were incredibly generous in letting us stay at their beautiful guest house, owned by Michael Lynne. Kelly Urbanik who was recently promoted to head winemaker (in her 20s, you go girl!) told us about how she’s focusing on using less oak in their Chardonnays as we sampled their stellar 2007 straight from the barrel. It drank beautifully with seering acidity and an expressive nose. We had a lunch of lobster salad plus beet, walnut and goat cheese as well as many other goodies with she and Jean. The first vintage of Musee, a red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot had elegant berry aromas but could use some time to reveal itself more fully. The Taste White was an intriguing blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Gewurztraminer and Riesling with layers of floral aromas and stone fruits.

• We watched drunken bocce ball players as Pascal took us through a tasting and a cellar tour at Peconic Bay. Much like at Bedell, we had a 2007 Chardonnay preview which gave a great glimpse into what’s in store for this vintage. The wines are seemingly remarkable thus far.
• Dinner at the Frisky Oyster was a perfect conclusion to a day of tasting. After a stiff martini break, we verged back into wine with a 2007 Raphael Sauvignon Blanc alongside crisp zucchini blossoms, oysters stuffed with spinach, and shrimp quesadillas. After a walk on the pier and an ice cream, we were beat.

• On Sunday morning after a lovely breakfast at the guest house of croissants, corn muffins, berries, and coffee we hopped over to the Tasting Room where Theresa Dilworth poured some wines from boutique wineries in the area. These guys are too small to have their own tasting rooms so they have their wines poured and sold in this shop. I really enjoyed a Comtesse Therese (name sound familiar?) 2007 Rose and a Schneider Syrah 2004 made from Hermitage clones had nice spice and depth. There were some elegant Rieslings being poured here as well.
• We traveled West to make our way back, stopping at the Village Cheese and snagging a local goat cheese, a creamy NY State blue, a parmesan, and a baguette for lunch later.
• We nearly missed the discrete, Lieb Cellars tasting room where we met Lenn and tasted a vast portfolio of Lieb wines. I loved the Bridge Lane Cabernet Franc and their Blanc de Blancs was a unanimous hit.
• Our final stop was Macari which had a vast tasting room full of tourists but the gorgeous view and terrace made fighting the crowds worthwhile. Their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc was sublime with expressive grapefruit notes and a lingering finish. It was quite a combo with our goat cheese. Their $10 Collina 48 Merlot was surprisingly good too. Who says decent wine can’t be affordable?

What an enjoyable and eye-opening trip. It was funny to see myself buying Merlot, Rose, and Chardonnay which aren’t my typical favorites, but were made well here. Many examples of red blends are being crafted here as well that I neglected to mention. They seemed to miss the mark in a lot of places but that’s not to say they won’t get there. This is certainly an ever-evolving region. New Yorkers, if you haven’t made it out to the North Fork… what are you waiting for?

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