June 2009

WINE & SPIRITS

BRIGHT AND REFRESHING NEWS FROM OUR LONG ISLAND WINE REGION

This summer on eastern Long Island everything is coming up roses—or at least rosés. Our local wineries excel in crafting beautiful, dry rosés in a rainbow of delightful hues. I recently tasted a roundup of bottles from the 2008 vintage, none priced above $15. They were as bright and refreshing as any produced in the last few great years. Wölffer Estate’s latest is golden-orange with minerality and notes of strawberry, gooseberry and kiwi. Macari’s coral-tinged wine—a mini-blend of Bordeaux varietals—is extra dry and crisp. Channing Daughters, meanwhile, released three different rosés this year—rosatos, they call them—a pale-copper Cabernet Franc with floral peach notes, a Cabernet Sauvignon with hints of cherries and currants and a rich, dark Merlot with notes of watermelon and plum.

Along with the rosé renaissance on Long Island, this season brings a new round of expansion to the region’s wine country. At Macari, the big news this year is the acquisition of an additional vineyard, the 20-acre Galluccio winery in Cutchogue, giving the label a full 200 acres under vine. A new tasting room will open there in July. Sparkling Pointe, a brand-new winery producing only bubbly—in methode champenoise—opens its doors later this summer. The property boasts a tasting room designed by Samuels & Steelman (the firm responsible for the stunning Bedell and Pelligrini wineries). I’ve previewed their vintage sparkling and am astonished by how good this bubbly is right out of the gate.

Speaking of sparkling wines—mother-daughter team Rosamond and Perry Baiz at the Old Field Vineyard, a historic waterfront winery on Peconic Bay, produce some of the best on Long Island. Working the fields themselves, they craft small batches of Blanc de Noir. The ’04, disgorged in lots of 200 bottles at a time to ensure fresh, fruity flavor, is exceptionally good. This summer, the Baizs will open a museum chronicling the family’s 90-year history running a farm on the site.

FEMALE WINEMAKER TOUTS MERLOT

The North Fork powerhouse, Bedell Cellars, has appointed a female head winemaker—the first time a woman has had that role on Long Island. Twenty-eight-year-old Kelly Urbanik, a U.C. Davis grad, spent three years as assistant winemaker on the property. She recently finished bottling the 2007 reds. “I’m partial to the Reserve Merlot,” she said. “It’s juicy and powerful. I think it’s the best expression of Merlot on Long Island.” Also at Bedell, owner Michael Lynne recently named his son Jonathan head of sales and marketing. Lynne Jr. has wide-ranging tastes. “I like the beautiful black cherry and blackberry notes in our Cabernet Franc,” he said. “And First Crush, our table wine, is great for easy drinking. To my way of thinking, Musée, our Bordeaux blend, is fantastic. It’s Bedell’s greatest achievement to date.”

MORE SCREW CAPS COMING

Paumanok is just now releasing seven ’07 reds. The first two to hit shelves are their Cabernet Franc and their Festival Red (a fine Merlot-Cab blend). But the big change at the winery is that many bottles are, for the first time, being sealed under screw cap. At Channing Daughters, new whites are the standouts. “We think white blends are what will make our region famous,” general manager Allison Dubin, the winemaker’s wife, said. Along with their signature Vino Bianco, this year they’ve released two Tocai Friulanos, which have white flower aromas and notes of grapefruit and almond. “We experiment widely with white field blends,” she continued, “and with Italian varieties.” Their creativity has certainly paid off, yielding some of the most delicious and innovative whites in the region.

Amid all the good news comes one very sad milestone. On the last day of 2008, Christian Wölffer, the visionary behind Wölffer Estate, died in a boating accident while on vacation in Brazil. “In his 70 years he lived larger than life,” said winemaker Roman Roth, who is continuing the Wölffer legacy. The winery has just released its ’08 Pinot Grigio, an elegant, crisp, mineral wine that’s a nice match for shellfish and spicy Asian cuisine. Wölffer is also offering new golf-cart tours of the stables, gardens, ponds, paddocks and vineyards on its 174-acre estate.

Along with a visit to Wölffer in Sagaponack, this summer is also a great time to make the rounds to other local wineries to pick up bottled gems at their source. But first bone up on your wine knowledge at the “From Vine to Wine” Saturday seminars offered by Grand Cru Classes, a local wine school in a renovated barn on the North Fork in Mattituck. Or join top Long Island winemakers for a getaway cruise in late June. Roman Roth of Wölffer and Charles Massoud of Paumanok will be featured speakers—pouring their own wines—on a 10-day luxury cruise through the Mediterranean. Personally, I’ll be sticking closer to home, sitting on my Hamptons deck enjoying a chilled Long Island rosé.