by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

As part of my Christmas vacation to NYC, I spent a few days out on LonGiland with friends; cooking, drinking, and carousing around. Whilst I was in the area, one of my goals was to learn more about LI wines.

Dinner With Robert (12/29/05)
When I gave my seminars at the AWS Convention in LasVegas in November, two LI friends
of one of my LosAlamos wine group members were in attendance; Robert Rutmayer and David
Trovillion. They expressed an interesting in getting together w/ me during my LI visit,
so Robert and Linda, David and Jill hosted Susan & I at Robert's home in Sound Beach,
near Port Jeff where we picked up our rental car. It was a dark & stormy night. But the
company was warm & friendly. And the food excellent: Assorted cheeses from Ideal Cheese,
Carrot & Mushroom Soup, Roasted Duck Breast w/ Fig Sauce, Roasted Log O'Lamb w/ roasted
parsnips, and a Pear Tart (I believe). And the wines wern't too shabby:
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1. DruidWines Mersault LeLimozin 1999: Strong minerally/earthy light melony nose; tart
minerally/citrusy/melony flavor w/ slight nutty/oxidized finish; a lovely lean/
minerally WhiteBurg.
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2. Torbreck BarossaVlly Viognier/Marsanne/Rousanne (40%/40%/20%) 2004: Fragrant pear/Viognier slight appley/Marsanne some spicy/perfumed nose; tart/spicy pear/Viognier light olive/nutmeg appley slight earthy flavor; low-key Viognier in nose but lean Marsanne on the palate; good leanness for a Barossa white.
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3. Chapoutier LesGranites St.Joseph 1995: Dark color; rather strong blackberry/blueberry/ Syrah slight gamey/smokey chocolaty Calif-style nose; very blackberry/Syrah/chocolate bit metallic/sharp some gamey/smokey/pungent flavor; near its peak; rather Calif in style and not much NorthernRhone character.
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4. Nickel&Nickel DarienVnyd/RussianRiverVlly Syrah 2003: Very dark/black color; intense blackberry/ blueberry/Syrah some toasty/charred/Fr.oak bit peppery/dusty nose; rich/intense blackberry/Syrah peppery/dusty somewhat charred/toasty/oak flavor w/ much tannins; fair amount of oak but not out of hand; needs 3-6 yrs of age.
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5. Turley AidaVnyd/NapaVlly PetiteSirah (13%) 1993: Very dark color; intense blueberry/PS/peppery slight toasty/Fr.oak very spicy/cloves/nutmeg nose; very spicy/cloves/toasty/oak some peppery/blueberry/PS flavor w/ fair tannins yet; lots of oak & spice and not a lot of complexity but still going strong and will go another 3-6 yrs I think.
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6. CampoDeBorja AltoMoncayo Garnacha (15.5%) 2002: Black color; very intense blackberry/strawberry/ Grenache huge fruit slight earthy/dusty/old vine nose; rich fairly tannic huge strawberry/Grenache/blackberry light earthy/dusty slight toasty/oak w/ very long/lush strawberry finish; needs much age; recommended by Michael Cinque of Armagansset Wines&Spirits to Robert and a very good one at that; more structure than many Priorat Grenaches.
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And there was a few dessert wines after these, but I lost the card w/ those notes. In lieu of the hour drive in stormy weather down to WaterMill on poorly markedroads in heavy fog, at the urging of all concerned, we stayed overnight at Robert's. Good move, because even in the clear daylight the next morning, we still got lost. Fortunately, I tasked Susan to ask for directions. But it was a wonderful evening of great food and wine and great to know Robert, David, Linda & Jill better.

Channing Daughters (12/30/05)
As part of my LI wine education, I did a bit of homework afore I left. Of all the WebSites I visited, the Channing Daughters site was the one that stuck out like a sore thumb as a winery that was doing something different from all the rest. They are doing a lot of things w/ Italian/Friulian varieties as well as Dornfelder, plus all the usual LI grapes. So I made an appointment to visit w/ winemaker Christopher Tracey late that morning; only a 10 minute from Cathy's where we were staying in WaterMill. Interestingly, Christopher's parents used to own the HeinemanMtnVnyd in the NapaVlly, behind StonyHill, from which JosephPhelps/ WalterShug used to source PinotNoir grapes; until they sold the vnyd and it was grafted over to Cabernot.
After a brief history about Channing Daughters from Christopher and a brief tour of their tiny/lo-tech/no-tech facility, we adjourned to the tasting room to sample a few things. During my stay down in NYC, I stumbled upon the CD Vino Bianco 2001, that we tried one night at Cam's. My tasting note inadvertingly went thru the laundry last night, so nothing detailed. It contained 20% Pinot Grigio, 20% Scuttlehole Chard, 30% Chard
Musque, and 30% SauvBlanc. Production was a whopping 94 cases. I was most struck by its aromatics and minerality, not too far removed from a Gravner white. I saved a part of the btl to try the next day but, alas, it somehow vanished the next morning and all I got was the empty btl. While we were tasting, CD partner Larry Perrine stopped in for a brief chat & try the two wines I brought along. The wines we tried:
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1. CD PinotGrigio 2004: Lovely floral/pear/PG very aromatic/floral nose; tart/lean rather minerally light floral/peach blossom flavor.
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2. Vino Bianco (22% SauvBlanc/31% Dijon clone 96 Chard/23% pinotGrigio/12% Chard Musque/ 14% Tocai Friuliano) 2004: Very bright minerally/spicy very fragrant nose; tart spicy/minerally light pear very light flavor; needs a bit more age but very perfumey white.
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3. BrickKiln Chard 2004: Light appley/floral rather spicy/nutmeg/pencilly low-key oak perfumed nose; tart/lean rather pencilly/spicy/nutmeg very light/floral flavor.
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4. L'EnfantSauvage Chard 2004: Barrel fermented & barrel aged; strong toasty/vanilla/ pencilly light fruit nose; lean/tart somewhat nutty/CornNuts nutmeg/pencilly/vanilla very light floral flavor w/ trace of nutty/oxidized character.
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5. PinotEnvy (27% Merlot) 2004: Lovely cherry/Pinot/aromatic bit earthy/dusty nose; very light cherry/Pinot some dusty/earthy light pencil flavor; attractive Pinotish aromatics.
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6. FreshRed Merlot 2004: Attractive cherry/Pinotish/licorice spicy/cloves nose; light bright/cherry/Pinotish light pencilly some dusty/earthy flavor. It's said that LI Merlot resembles PinotNoir more than Merlot and I can see that in this wine; attractive bright cherry/zippy red.
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7. Blaufrankish 2004: Classis BF/black cherry/plummy/licorice bit earthy nose; tart/lean light earthy plummy/licorice flavor; more like the JedSteele WashState Blaufrankish than any WashState Lembergers, but not as soft as the Steele.
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8. Barrel Sample: ResearchRed component w/ 20% Dornfelder 2004: Very dark color, darkest of all the CD reds; strong black cherry/blueberry rather dusty/earthy nose; fairly rich black cherry/fruity earthy/dusty flavor.
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I had taken along the EdmundsStJohn PinotGrigio 2004 and the Huber SantaRitaHills Dornfelder 2002 to taste w/ Christopher. I've always regarded Steve's PG as the best one made in the USofA; very elegant and floral compared to most. Alongside the CD version, it seemed very rich & lush...not too surprising I guess. The Huber was very intense blueberry/blackberry quite toasty/oak and very extracted. I was most taken by Christopher's whites; much more so than the reds. They all had a minerality to them that you seldom find in Calif whites. And a brisk/zesty/racy acidity that makes them a pleasure to drink and not tiring on the palate. Some like the Palmina whites, some like Friuli whites, some like Loire whites. The reds all had a distinct
earthy/dusty character and a lightness on the palate that seemed spare and lean to my Calif palate; but, again, very good aromatics. It seems as if CD is trying to break out of the typical LI Chard/Cab/Merlot rut and Christopher is doing that most successfully. And the production level is so small that the marketing does not seem to be an issue. Info at www.ChanningDaughters.com. A winery visit that I strongly recommend.

Other LI Wineries (12/31/05)
At the LasVegas/AWS Convention, I was introduced to Jackie Rogers with the LongIsland Wine Council. She eagerly volunteered to arrange any visits w/ LI wineries that I desired. So I equally eagerly took her up on the offer. The one winery everyone I talked with recommended I visit was Paumanok as doing about the best w/ LI grapes of anybody. So Jackie arranged a visit first thing that morning w/ Charles Massoud, who gave us almost 2 hrs of his time and a very complete history of LI grape growing and the trials and
tribulations thereof. I talked quite a bit w/ Charles about the difficulties of grape growing in LI's climate. He was not a big believer of organic or biodynamic farming because of the rot & mildew issues. We talked a lot about degree-days and how the Western end of the NorthFork had a big advantage over the Eastern end because the prevailing winds are out of the SW and they don't pass over the PeconicBay and, thus, retain more warmth and don't suffer the cooling. He contrasted that w/ the weather down on the SouthFork, where the breezes come directly off the Atlantic.

And then we tasted a few wines. From tank, going thru cold-stabilization:

1. Paumanok CheninBlanc 2005: Very bright/melony classic Sancerre/minerally CB nose; bright/lean/crisp very minerally/chalky lightly floral/melon/CB flavor; med.short minerally/floral finish. Even under these very cold conditions, this wine was mightly impressive for it's minerality; one of the most Sancerre-like US CBs I've ever tasted.Amazingly good stuff.
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2. Paumanok SauvBlanc 2005: Rather chalky/minerally light earthy no herbal/grassy/SB nose; very tart/crisp lean/austere very minerally flavor; I was expecting a very grassy/ herbal wine typical of low-ripeness SB but it was not; more like Friuli or AltaAdige or Jura SB than anything. Rather interesting & unusual.
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3. Paumanok (dry) JohannisbergRiesling 2005: Very fragrant/minerally/floral/pineapply JR slight dusty nose; tart/clean/very crisp austere bright floral/pineapply/JR some minerally flavor; very good bright/crisp JR; not so much German as AltoAdige.
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and then into the tasting room, from bottle:

4. Paumanok BarrelFrmtd Chard 2003: Rather minerally/Chard bit pencilly/oak/butterscotchy nose; tart/lean bright/appely/Chard pencilly/butterscotch/oak flavor; very long attractive caramel/butterscotch pudding light appley/Chard minerally finish; one of the longest finishes of any wines I tried; interesting & well-made.
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5. Paumanok Chard GrandVintage 2004: Strong pencilly/minerally/appley/Chard nose; softer rather minerally/chalky more appley/melony/Chard/fruit some toasty/oak flavor; clearly a bigger/richer Chard again more AltoAdige/Val d'Aosta than French.
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6. Paumanok CabFranc 2003: Light color; rather earthy/dusty some raspberry/cassis bit toasty/oak nose; tart/lean/austere some raspberry/cassis/licorice flavor; some fruit but lots of dusty/earthy/minerally character.
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7. Paumanok Merlot 2002: Bit herbal rather dusty/earthy light cranberry/raspberry/cherry nose; tart/light rather herbal light cherry/raspberry dusty/earthy flavor
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8. Paumanok Merlot GrandVintage 2001: Bigger more aromatic some raspberry/cherry/licorice light herbal slight toasty/oak nose; softer cherry/raspberry/licorice some dusty/earthy flavor; dominated by earthy/dusty character but much more interesting fruit.
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9. Paumanok Assemblage GrandVintage 2002: Some toasty/charred/oak some blackberry/licorice nose; tart/rich toasty/charred/oak some licorice/pungent bit blackberry some dusty/ earthy flavor; rather interesting somewhat Loire-like red.
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10. Paumanok CabSauv 2002: More herbal/blackberry light toasty/charred nose; light/lean earthy/herbal light toasty/oak flavor; lean & earthy.
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11. Paumanok CabSauv GrandVintage 2001: Light cherry/herbal rather toasty/charred/oak nose; lean/austere light toasty/oak herbal/cherry pungent rather earthy/dusty some spicy/cloves interesting flavor; rather interesting nose but lean/austere on palate.
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12. Paumanok JohannisbergRiesling (3% r.s.) 2005: Very fragrant pineapply/floral/JR perfumed slight earthy/Germanic nose; soft/lush very floral/pineapply/JR lovely light minerally/earthy flavor; very attractive/lovely rendition of JR w/ great acidity/balance.
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13. Paumanok SauvBlanc Late (9% r.s.) 2003: Wow!!! Beautiful peachy/apricotty/lush rather JR-like very aromatic/floral/fragrant complex nose; rich/lush/sweet intense peachy/apricotty/botrytis complex clean/aromatic/perfumed flavor; most botrytis SBs have a volatile/pickle juice character but thus is very clean & well-made; a very impressive dessert wine & a real eye-opener for me.
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My take on the Paumanoks: The reds were interesting and seemed well-made, but didn't find anything that really excited me. The Chards I thought interesting, reminded me more of AltoAdige or WashState Chards, lots of terroir expressed. I was impressed by the two JRs; very unique and not much like any others in the world. But the CheninBlanc and the botrytis SauvBlanc really got my attention; some of the best I've had from the USofA.

I pretty much put myself in Jackie's hands for showing me other interesting LI wines; so she led us around to a few other tasting rooms, but had not made any appointments w/ winemakers; only a head's up to try some of their better wines that are not usually available.

Next stop was MarthaClaraVnyds. The more interesting wines we tasted:
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1. MarthaClara Semillon 2004: Very light slight waxy/figgy/Semillon no-oak nose; tart/thin light minerally/ earthy slight figgy/waxy no oak flavor; lacks a lot of character but some Semillon character.
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2. MarthaClara Viognier 2004: Attractive floral/pear/Viognier light nose; soft/fat very light Viognier/pear rather light almost bland flavor; definitely Viognier but pretty light in character. Like Pays d'Oc Viognier w/o the stony/hard/austere character.
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3. MarthaClara Syrah 2002: Strong peppery/Syrah some earthy very light blackberry nose; lean/light spicy/peppery/Syrah slight licorice/earthy/pungent flavor; light tannins and short finish; definitly cold-climate Syrah some like BritishColumbia ones I've tried; interesting nose but not much impact on palate.
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4. MarthaClara EstateReserve Syrah 2001: Strong pungent/licorice/Syrah rather earthy/dusty slight meaty/gamey nose; light/thin/lean some pungent/gamey light peppery/Syrah flavor; very interesting Syrah more like old-vine Carignane than anything; I rather liked this wine but pretty atypical of other Syrahs I know.
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5. MarthaClara Ciel (60% Viognier/40% Chard; 13.0%) 2002: Very fragrant pineapply/mango/ floral/ aromatic lush/clean beautiful nose; tart sweet intense mango/pineapple very floral/lush flavor; terrific aromatic/perfumed lush wine that should age well.
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6. MarthaClara Himmel (66% Riesling/33% GWT; 11%) 2004: Intense peachy/apricotty/botrytis
complex/clean nose; tart very intense peachy/apricotty/botrytis very floral/perfumed
clean/complex flavor; a stunning very sweet (40Brix at harvest) dessert wine.
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Some very interesting wines w/ the dessert wines particularly impressive.

It was then off to LiebFamilyCellars, where they specialize in PinotBlanc:
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1. LiebFamily Blanc de Blanc (100% PinotBlanc) 2002: Attractive classic yeasty clean/ appley nose; tart/ minerally light yeasty/appley flavor; reminds me mostly of some Loire sparkling Samaurs than anything; nicely done sparkler.
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2. LiebFamily Reserve PinotBlanc 2004: Light floral/perfumed slight earthy rather Alsatian PB-like nose; soft/flat light minerally/PB/floral flavor; somewhat Alsatian PB in character w/o the austere/earthy character.

And then it was on to WatersCrestWinery and a visit w/ Charles Waters, owner & winemaker. Info at www.WatersCrestWinery.com. This is truly a garigiste operation, but showed some of the most impressive wines I tried of the day:
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1. WatersCrest Hank'sChard 2004: Attractive fragrant/appley/varietal/Chard nose; tart/citrusy crisp light appley/Chard clean/varietal flavor; very short crisp/appley/Chard light toasty/oak finish; light/clean/ crisp/ pleasant Chard.
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2. WatersCrest BarrelFermented Chard 2004: Rather toasty/oak attractive appley/Chard light minerally nose; tart toasty/pencilly/oak light appley/Chard flavor; very short toasty/oak finish; lots of oak but not out of hand.
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3. WatersCrest Merlot 2003: Quite dusty/earthy bit licorice/cloves/complex light cherry/fruit nose; tart spicy/cloves rather walnutty/Cab minerally/earthy quite interesting flavor; bit light & lean but very interesting red.
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4. WatersCrest CabFranc 2003: Wow!! Intense licorice/chocolaty light toasty/oak/pungent complex/spicy/ cloves very interesting flavor; big/rich/lush intense licorice/pungent/chocolaty spicy/cloves light toasty/oak flavor; long pungent/toasty strong licorice/rather chocolaty/plummy finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; very impressive CabFranc some like LoireVlly versions.
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I was very/very impressed w/ Charles CabFranc and thought it, easily, the best LI red I tried in my sojourn.

Finally, Jackie left us on our own for the vnyd tour they offer at ShinnEstate. David Page and Barbara Shinn are one of the strong LI advocates for organic grape growing. I was particularly interested in visiting w/ David and getting his take on LI grape growing, particularly organic and biodynamic growing. Alas, it was raining heavily, the tasting room was jam packed, and any effort to visit in detail would have resulted in glassy-eyed stares from the others on the tour; so we eschewed taking the tour. But we did taste thru the wines:
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1. ShinnEstate Home Chard 2004: Strong toasty/coconut/ZagNut bar/oak slight appley nose; tart/lean light appley/Chard strong ZagNut/oak flavor; little strong on the oak.
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2. ShinnEstate SauvBlanc/Semillon 2004: Agressive herbal/grassySB slight floral/earthy nose; tart/lean grapefruity/citric herbal/grassy some earthy/minerally flavor; rather interesting Loire-like SB.
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3. ShinnEstate Merlot 2003: Strong herbal/dusty very slight cherry nose; light herbal/dusty some spicy/cloves low fruit/cherry flavor; short on fruit.
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4. ShinnEstate Reserve Merlot 2002: Stronger toasty/oak very dusty/earthy some cherry/fruit nose; tart very dusty/earthy some toasty/charred/oak/pungent light cherryflavor; bit more fruit & oak but still lacking fruit.
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Heading back towards WaterMill via SagHarbor, we free-lanced a stop at PuglieseVnyds
and found little to excite:
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1. Pugliese Sangiovese 2004: Rather dusty/earthy slight cherry low fruit nose; tart/lean/thin/hard very dusty/earthy weak cherry flavor; dead ringer for a $60 Chianti alas.
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2. Pugliese LateHrvst GWT 2004: Very ripe/overripe rotted apple/grapey nose; sweet/flat very rotted/ apple/overripe/grapey flavor; seems of rots other than botrytis.
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3. Pugliese LateHrvst Niagra 2004: Very intense grapey/Labrusca/foxy nose; very sweet flat intense grapey/Labrusca/foxy flavor; dominated by the Labrusca character.
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4. Pugliese Raffaello WhitePort (Muscat/Niagra) 2004: Strong grapey/Labrusca no muscat bit alcoholic/ EverClear nose; very sweet grapey/Labrusca somewhat alcoholic/raw flavor; dominated by the Labrusca character.
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On the day of the ChanningDaughters visit, we dwaddled around and didn't have time to visit WolfferEstate, so the Tues morning of our drive down to JFK, we made a stop that morning to taste thru their tableau. A very impressive operation it was; beautiful building, very well equiped winery, great tasting room where you received sit-down service at a table rather than the usual bell-up to the bar approach. We tasted:
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1. WolfferEstate Rose (80% Merlot) 2004: Very attractive juicy/cranberry nose; tart/bright juicy/cranberry/ cherry spicy flavor; quite an attractive rose w/ good veryjuicy fruit.
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2. WolfferEstate ReserveChard 2002: Rather strong toasty/oak some melony/Chard slight earthy/minerally nose; tart light minerally/earthy light melony/Chard flavor w/a very long/lingering panna cotta/butterscotch bit raw/oak finish; some fruit but a bit strong on the oak.
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3. WolfferEstate LaFermeMartin Chard 2003: Clean appley/Chard slight earthy light oak/
pencilly nose; tart/lean/minerally appley/Chard some earthy flavor; most attractive
and mainstream of the Chards.
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4. WolfferEstate EstateSelection Chard 2001: Very cabbage/sourkraut slight appley very toasty/oak nose; strong cabbage/sour kraut some earthy/appley/Chard very toasty/oak flavor; way overoaked and an unpleasant cabbage character (ML gone astray?)
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5. WolfferEstate Sparkling Brut (Chard) 2003: Light yeasty rather pineapply/floral slight earthy nose; tart bright light yeasty fragrant/floral/pineapply flavor; a quite attractive sparkler.
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6. WolfferEstate LaFermeMartin Merlot 2002: Strong earthy/dusty slight cherry nose; tartr/lean light cherry/fruit very dusty/earthy flavor; bit short on fruit.
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7. WolfferEstate Reserve Merlot 2002: Quite dusty/earthy slight herbal/cherry rather toasty/charred/oak nose; tart very earthy/dusty weak cherry/fruity fairly toasty/oak flavor; short on fruit & long on oak.
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8. WolfferEstate EstateSelection Merlot 2001: Richer Merlot/fruity some licorice/tar light dusty/earthy some toasty/oak nose; tart/lean/hard very dusty/earthy some licorice/pungent/road tar light cherry/Pinotish flavor; a rather interesting red but lacking in fruit.
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9. WolfferEstate CabFranc 2003: Strong licorice/tarry/pungent bit smokey/oak some bright cherry/fruit nose; tart/lean bright cherry/fruit spicy/cloves/pungent/road tar/licorice flavor; my favorite of the reds.
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10. WolfferEstate LateHrvst Chard 2004: Made by the freezer/IceWine process; light peachy/floral very attractive; soft/lush rather sweet lush/floral/peach flavor; quite an attractive dessert wines.
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Like most of the other wineries, I found the whites more attractive than the reds. All the wines seemed to have a sort of underripe/greenness to them but they all seemed unique and interesting.

On the way down to JFK that afternoon, we stopped at WorldPie for lunch. Quite a nice restaurant I thought. Terrific arugula salad w/ fried artichoke leaves; terrific arugula & fontina and proscuitto pizza, all washed down by the always interesting Goats-Do-Roam 2003.

My Take On LongIsland Wines My primary goal in these visits was to get some sort of impression of LI wines; wines that I've tried only a few times, usually mystery wines brought back by SteveSterbenz that didn't show well when placed at the end of a Calif tasting. So I wanted to try take take a broader survey of what LI is doing wine-wise. Obviously, my sampling was pretty small and it hardly qualifies me as an expert in LI wines. I was trying to place them somewhere in my vinous universe, a universe dominated by a Calif palate. Nonetheless, I was intent on judging them on them on their own merits and not as Calif wines. So, a few thoughts and impressions, based on what I tasted, in my BloodyPulpit on LI wines: ____________________ 1. By and large, it was the whites that most impressed me. Though not a lot of forward fruit to them, they mostly had a minerality to them that you rarely find in Calif wines, only in European wines; and a bright/racy/crisp acidity to them that makes them a pleasure at table. The reds, by and large, had a distinct dusty/earthy character to them and not a lot of lush fruit. Although that's not necessarily bad, such character is probably not what sells in today's market dominated by fruit-forward/lush reds from Calif and Australia (think YellowTail I guess). But for those who think the expression of terroir in a wine is the be-all to end-all; then LI reds certainly have terroir in spades. I certainly wouldn't fault the wines for their terroir-driven character. I found the reds to lack the varietal character to which I am accustomed in their Calif and European renditions. However, I'm not one to worship at the altar of varietal typicity. If SantaRitaHills Pinot tastes & smells like Syrah, then the cherry/Pinotish character of LI Merlots is merely the way Merlot expresses itself in LI's terroir/climate. Nuthin' the matter with that. So, generalizing quite a bit; the wines typically show a bright/racy acidity and a strong expression of terroir. They do not show a lot of lushness and richness and I found many to be somewhat thin/dilute on the palate and lacking a very longfinish. ____________________ 2. Then style of the LI wines is certainly not the kind that Arpy (RP) finds attractive and seems rather out-of-step w/ the way the American palate is evolving. That would seem to make LI wines a tough sell. So the marketing of LI wines is probably pretty difficult in the rest of the USofA and the biggest market is probably the tourist trade actually visiting the wineries. Certainly, the vintages that were often for sale in the tasting rooms (most Calif/European wineries are marketing their 2004 wines) would suggest that the wines are not flying out the door. Much of the LI wines literature attempts to tie LI wines to Bordeaux as its model. The only reason I can see for doing that is the climate similarities w/ Bdx and the desire to get top $$'s for the wine; you can always sell a Cabernet for more $$'s than a Dornfelder. But I found very little resemblance of the reds to Bordeaux reds; especially as the Bdx wines strive more and more to resemble Calif Cabs, much of it driven by Arpy's taste in reds. So marketing LI reds as Bordeaux wines seems, to me, a losing proposition. The LI reds certainly are not Calif (or Wash State) in character, and the similarity to Bordeaux reds was a struggle for me. If anything, the Cab-based reds resembled more the Loire Reds more than anything, and some of the Jura reds a bit, and some of the Swiss and AltoAdige reds. But Bordeaux I couldn't see in the wines. One of the things I did find off-putting was some of the literature vis a vis Calif wines. In attempting to contrast the LI wines w/ the more commonplace Calif wines, I felt some of the literature was unnecessarily derogatory of Calif wines. Those wines from Calif are what they are, nothing more. ____________________ 3. Varieties: The luster of Cabernet on LI seems to be waning; probably because it's a late ripener. And the fair-haired child now seems to be Merlot, being an early ripener. I must admit that I didn't find a single Merlot that knocked my socks off. I far more preferred the CabFrancs to any of the Merlot. Obviously, it's much easier to sell a Merlot (for greater $$'s) than it is a Dornfelder or PetiteRouge. But if LI is going to make great/world-class wines, I don't see it being Merlot or CabernetSauvignon. ____________________ 4. Technology: Following the Bordeaux model, it would seem, to me, if there was ever a region that would benefit from ReverseOsmosis or SpinningCone as a technique to concentrate the must, it would be the LI reds. I think it would dramatically change the character of the wines, result in deeper colored, more extracted red wines. As best I can tell, there's not much usage of the technique yet on LI. Obviously, it would probably destroy the terroir of the wines; but if your goal is selling high Arpy-point wines for big $$'s and "gobs of hedonistic fruit", then RO should do the trick. Another technique that seemed not to find much use on LI wines was the use of saignee and co-fermentations w/ white grapes. If color and extraction are the problem w/ LI reds (given that THAT is a problem), it would seem that these practices would be more commonplace. One of the things that DID strike me about the LI wines was the restraint in the usage of new oak. I was expecting a lot of the wines to be slammed w/ loads of new/French oak. Thankfully, that was seldom the case of the wines that I tasted. _____________________ 5. Dessert wines: The one genre of LI wine that did grab my attention was the dessert wines. Some of them were as good as any you can find anywhere in the world; absolutely striking. Clearly, the climate on LI at harvest will support the growth of botrytis. I suspect, however, the LI climate is far from ideal for its singular growth and there is probably a lot of other/less desirable rots and molds growing in the vnyd as well. Some of the LateHrvsts tasted like rotted apples and not the peachy/apricotty of botrytis, suggesting there may have been other rots. And I liked many of the freezer/IceWines I tasted as well. Apparently, the tighter labeling regulations in NY prohibit the use of IceWine unless it was actually made from frozen on the vine grapes. So they are merely labeled at LateHrvst; suggesting the grapes were left to hang on the vine longer. It would be nice to be able to identify those dessert wines made by the freezer technique. _____________________ 6. Economics: My impression is that land prices out on this part of LI are humongeous. How one can profitably grow grapes here, let alone brussel sprouts or broccoli, seems beyond me. Even with attractive agricultural-land tax breaks. Which means that for a winery to be profitable, you're going to have to make world-class wines that you can sell for big $$$'s. Which limits the kind of wines/varietals you can make. Maybe Blaufrankish or Dornfelder are those wines. But it's tough to sell them for the $$$'s to make it economically attractive. So....what'd I think of the LI wines?? I guess "interesting" would be my single word to describe them. They were much better than I had expected them to be, based on the few I had tried before. There were even a few that I would have bought to bring home, had I not discarded my SouthWestAirlines-resistant shipping case. Probably nothing I would term "world-class", but many that I would have drunk, at table, with relish. I look forward to returning to LI in ten yrs and am prepared to be dazzled by the improvement in the wines as the growers/vintners learn what works best. It's far from an ideal growing climate, I think, but I impressed w/ what they've made thus far. Other LonGiland Doings The visit to LI was a post-Christmas break for Susan's family and friends. Cam and Carol are building a home out in the Hamptons and we were prepared to stay in it. Though habitable (the hot water was finally turned on the morning we arrived), it had a distinct lack of ameneties; promised to be remedied by our next visit. Fortunately, friend Cathy had a nearby house and was able to put us all up for the three nights we were out there. All of us are pretty serious foodies, so there were some great food and wine doings. Particularly impressive was the Voyat Rosso from the Val d'Aosta. The EdmundsStJohn BassettiVnyd never did get over its funkiness thru the two days over which it was drunk. The Ridge Geyserville '95 was in terrific shape; plenty of blackberry fruit and loaded with Draper perfume. An Italian Ruche was terrific, along w/ a frizzante Cerretto Brachetto. We drank and dined well. TomHill

NB: Cathy had a friend's book that I was most impressed by. An Appetite For Umbria is a book, with reciepes and great photos, of the people & the food. Worth tracking down (www.AppetiteForUmbria.com).