Long Island Winery Visit -
July 2000
| Long Island, New York has gained a reputation over the past ten years of being a rival to the Sonoma region of California. With its ocean-moderated vineyards and wealthy patrons, Long Island is definitely producing high quality wines, especially their Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay. Listening to the Great Gatsby as we drove, we took in this playground of the rich this past weekend, visiting as many wineries as we could and soaking up the atmosphere. |
Luckily for summer visitors, most of the wineries on Long Island are clustered along a 20 mile stretch on North Fork. It's easy to bike or motorcycle along this short stretch of Route 25, admiring the scenery and enjoying the fine wines offered. We picked up our guide, Stephen of Winestuff.Com, and headed out.
 Paumanok in the Sun | First we visited Paumanok Vineyards, where we sipped Chardonnay and Merlot to the tunes of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Next, at Jamesport Vineyards, we enjoyed the 55 brix late harvest Riesling, which the owner commented was like 'you're squeezing raisins.' |
Macari Vineyards, with its new, airy tasting room, offered a creamy viognier as well as Essencia, a delicious cryo wine. Sated for the moment, we stopped for lunch at a small sandwich shop, reviewing the various wines of the morning and planning our conquests of the afternoon.
 Young Grape Flowers | At all of the vineyards we visited, the grape flowers were just starting to come out - the large, leafy vines were growing green shoots, and the small bunches hung on the vines lightly, stirring in the wind. |
After lunch we continued along to Gristina Vineyards, where we enjoyed the Andy's Field Chardonnay and the Andy's Field Merlot. At Bedell Cellars we had a spicy Gewurztraminer, as well as a tart, full flavored raspberry wine. Pindar's tasting bar was like a feeding frenzy, mobbed with visitors come to sample their Mythology - a Bordeaux blend which was smoky, fruity, and rich.
We moved on to Lenz Winery, with a Cuvee sparkling wine which was toasty and light, and a Merlot Vineyard Select which was light and crisp. Pellegrini Vineyards was next, its Vintner's Pride Chardonnay offering up full flavors including applesauce. Their Vintner's Pride Finale was a cryowine blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer, with a tangy apricot flavor.
Last on our list was Palmer Vineyards. We stood beside the founders of eToys as we sampled a perfumy Gewurztraminer and a Cabernet Franc with a gorgeous aroma. Their strawberry wine's fruits are shipped in from Baldwin Vineyards in the Hudson Valley, and offered a fresh, light flavor.
Our tasting complete, the dinner hour was apon us. We headed south to Westhampton, to Tierra Mar, for dinner. Our guide was not yet done with us - Stephen pulled out his own wine, a delicious Chardonnay he made with 1997 grapes from Osprey's Dominion. It was one of the best we'd tasted! He then offered us three Chardonnays from Wolffer Estate, a south fork winery. Each was quite good, although I preferred the Estate Selection.
Finally, as we dug into our main courses of hangar stake and tuna, he opened for us a 1978 Chateau LaTour, a grand cru classe Bordeaux. As you can imagine, this was delicious. We're currently in a Bordeaux phase anyway, and this was a classic. Smooth, mellow, with berry flavors and slight tannin. A long, lingering finish.
Long Island Winery Website URLs
Winery Reviews Main Listing > New York Winery Listing > Long Island Winery Listing
All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.