Drink Wine With Me

Archive for the ‘Long Island’ Category

I recently went on a 4 day boat trip up the Hudson River with my boyfriend.  Turns out it was the last good boating weekend we would have for the season.  As with all our boat trips we have to provision and make sure enough bottles of wine are on board to get us through the trip.  One of the selections that I brought along was The Old Field Merlot 2001.  In May we visited the wineries for my birthday on the North Fork of Long Island.  The Old Field was our first stop on our journey and what a place to begin our tasting!  This family owned and operated winery has been in business since the 1970′s and offers not only a beautiful and relaxing setting but an absolutely amazing merlot.  This wine tasted like a glass full of dark cherries and it’s smoothness carried into light notes of black pepper and spice.  It has a slightly lower alcohol content at 12% making it an easily drinkable wine and it pairs well with meat and other savory dishes.  Even though I have been drinking more full bodied reds as of late this merlot has made me love this variety again.  Overall a fabulous wine and well priced at under $20 per bottle.

On Saturday I attended the Microbrew Beer and Wine Tasting at Hunter Mountain.  The air was brisk and the leaves were just beginning to change color providing a gorgeous backdrop for a day of tasting.  The guys headed straight for the beer taps while I went on to see what the area wineries had to offer.  Most were featuring fruit flavor based wines such as pear or blueberry but what I was looking for was a great tasting red.  This I found very early on in the day at a brand new winery Premium Wines located on the North Fork of Long Island.  The Pumphouse Red 2007 is a blend of merlot (84%), cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, and 2% syrah.  Its full bodied and extremely easy to drink with concentrated fruit flavor and soft tannins.

The second standout was their Suhru Shiraz Rose 2008.  If you love Rose this is a wine you absolutely must try.  A perfect blend of shiraz (84%), cabernet franc, reisling, chardonnay, and petit verdot.  This wine has a distinct grapefruit flavor that is crisp and refreshing with mild acidity and has a gorgeous light red color.  I can’t wait to open a bottle of this Rose while boating on the Hudson next summer-a perfect wine on a hot summer day!